Looking for a new phon cartridge

Shure V15 mkVmr - for those who find the treble of mc cartridges too bright.

I like my Benz Ruby Z. I've had other Benz cartridges (Ebony L) and liked them all. I have a Zyx 4D as well which I considered top dog...until I got the Ruby Z. I believe each of them have a natural sound.

Audio Technica ART9i. Look into it and the original ART9 which has hundreds of posts on this forum. An absolute steal at $1,500 or less. 

A Soundsmith 'The Voice' fits nicely in your budget.

Koetsu Rosewood.

If you find a LOMC cartridge too hot or too bright, maybe the real problem is phono-stage loading. Trying increasing that (i.e. lower resistive values).

I have Lyra Atlas and DV XVX-1s cartridges and I can definitely make them sound overly bright/hot/lively by decreasing loading on my phono-stage. When I get loading right they sound sublime.

Sumiko Celebration 40.

+1 Koetsu Rosewood

maybe Grado 

@noromance @kennyc 

Any Koetsu will have to be NOS or used. The builder died and the company closed operations.