Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

I'm the proud new owner of an ET-2.0 attached to a SOTA Star Sapphire and looking for cartridge advice.  Tonearm has the original aluminum wand  single leaf spring on the I-Beam.

I've seen the yellow sticky, but I'm still learning about the concept of cartridge compliance.

It came with a Shure M97xE with who knows how many hours on it and sounds "fine".  I put my newer Nagaoka MP-110 on and that was a noticeable step up.  I'm shopping around for $200-400 cart and wondering what would take it to the next level (and pair well with this tonearm).  Anybody have experiences with these on the ET-2:

AT VM-540ML
AT VM-740ML
Nagaoka MP-150
Grado Opus3
Denon 103R
Hana E
or any other suggestions in that price range?

So you would advise against me lugging around two 45 pound SOTAs to a DJ gig?  Ha!

I do love fine tuning the VTA while playing records, but it takes a very steady hand, given my springy table suspension system.

Thanks for the detailed explanation on compliance.  I'll probably stick with the current I-Beam length. It looks like the previous owner may have cut the I-Beam shorter (to the 6 mark) in order to allow the dust cover to close properly.  The threaded rod that holds the lead weights in place has to point inward to avoid sticking out as well.

Given the range of cartridge options out there, I'd like to try to match the cart with the tonearm setup as it stands, especially given the range of quality cartridge options. Once I get more comfortable with the table adjustments and possible modifications, then I may revisit.

So given those factors, a cartridge with a compliance number higher than 20 should pair best with my current tonearm setup?

@stuogawa 

FWIW I contacted the main email last week about a missing VTA lever and Bruce (or at least somebody with Bruce's email and signature) responded.

Considering taking the plunge on a London Decca Super Gold for my ET-2. Was there a consensus about the viability of the current version (SG3) using them with the stock ET-2 aluminum wand tonearm without having a dampening trough?

I'm generally playing VG to VG+ used jazz, country and soul records.  Not beaters, but definitely not pristine audiophile records.  My current Nagaoka MP-110 (which I guess is known as a slightly above average tracker?) tracks just fine.

I also don’t have the ET-provided cartridge alignment card. Given how low the cartridge body rides how hard is it to get the cartridge alignment set? I currently use an old record that I’ve etched aline down from the spindle hole to the outer edge as a guide and it’s difficult to set with my old eyes.

I would read through the ET manual to get re-acquainted with the setup and maintenance again. Page 25 of the manual shows how you can adjust the cuing mechanism.  It almost looks like your cuing got reversed:  lever up -> cartridge down.  ET website has a link to download PDF manual if you don't still have it.