MM Cartridge recommendation

MoFi MasterTracker on sale for $500 at music direct. I very much like mine. +1 the Nagaoka 200. I have the 200 and 500. And a little cheaper is the Audio Technica VM740ML. 

Have you thought of MI cartridges, Soundsmith Otello or a slightly under Carmen would fall nicely into your price range. The rebuilding costs are extremely reasonable when that time comes. I purchased a lightly used Carmen II about 7 years and couldn’t be happier Nice high end, bass and everything in between,

A Nagaoka MP-200 or 300 would be lovely.  I have the Nagaoka MP-500 and am very happy with it.

@lewm 

Just as with anything else, a phrase's meaning is possibly different for each person. What I mean by "sweet spot" is the component under discussion has a very good mix of performance and cost. The MP-200 is not an analytical, high resolution, high detail product. It provides a very pleasent sound that lets you listen more to the music and focus a little less on the sound. While I have not "auditioned" any other Nagaoka carts, I have just purchased an MP-500 that is arriving soon. I skipped over the MP-300. My research suggests that the MP-300 may suffer from the "middle child" syndrome. For the cost difference between the MP-300 and the MP-500, I prefer to get the bigger jump in performance that the MP-500 has according to reviews and other research.

+1 for the MoFi Mastertracker.  I love mine!  Herb Reichert was impressed with it, as well:  "I had never ever experienced such vitality and sharp focus from an MM cartridge. More surprisingly, this sharp focus did not come from lean, dry, or overdamped sound. The MasterTracker was simply getting all of the energy information off the record."

Regardless, make sure it's a good match for your TT, arm and system.

Good Luck!