Help with Cartridge choice

Might sound like a backward step, but the Ortofon SPU Royal N is pure musical magic, I know people that have replaced Kondo IOM's with it and have not looked back. It does need quite a massy arm with VTA adjustment and a phono stage with a decent amount of gain plus a minimum of 100ohms impedance. People may wonder why not the full SPU version, 2 reasons it sounds better and costs less.

I don't know if you guys have heard if Living Voice speakers from the UK, if not check out the website. Anyway the guy who is the mastermind behind Living Voice, the SPU Royal N is his favourite cartridge, above all other cartridges whether they be Kondo's, Fuuga, the top Ortofons, Van Den Huls, Lyra's et all.

Anyone reading this with whose interest has been pricked, give it a punt. 

Sideway move from the 2m bronze, it's a great cartridge...but if you must, the Hana is also a very nice cartridge...I'd go with the EL, jmo...as its price is in line with the bronze. It will sound "different" not necessarily better than the bronze. 

You got good advice here. I’ll just second TableJockey and suggest Audio Technica. I just put the 0C9xsl on my VPI table and am very pleased. Around $800 and all that I wanted. Best of luck choosing. 

Many great suggestions, thank you all.

If my description of "not analog savvy" misled anyone, i should clarify that i have 100s of records collected over years, I do use a Nitty Gritty record cleaner and zero dust to clean, and i have used TTs for at least 15 years. Its just that I have not invested big money on the analog chain until now, while focusing on improving my digital/roon playback chain. Now i am trying to focus on the analog domain.

Based on all the feedback I am aiming to do the following:

- buy a HANA SL to gain some sonic benefits as well as to spend some money that i feel like spending :)

- next year I will try to expedite an end game TT purchase and then upgrade to Hana ML thru the upgrade program.

@rmdmoore  thanks for the advice on Hana program

@artemus_5 thanks for your perspective on Origin Live. Fremer seems to be a huge fan and i will be auditioning it next year along with Kronos Sparta, Merill Williams etc. I saw/heard the latter two at Cap Audio Fest a few weeks ago. 

- and when I upgrade i can keep the Pro-Ject Perspective TT for my basement system, as it is a visually stunning table and is a decent performer.

Again many thanks to all for the help here, really appreciated.

I have both an ART9XI and a Hana ML that I use with my VPI Prime and, much to my surprise, I slightly prefer the Hana.  They’re very, very close however, so you really can’t go wrong with either.  I do notice that the AT certainly needs less gain from my phono stage than the Hana for whatever that’s worth.