My feeling is that the best bang for the buck is a Denon 303, even if you pay to retip (301, 302, 304 likewise, or new 301 mkii). Bang for the buck, that is. I have two Grado Ref Sonata 1's, one with a micro re-tip...both sound very good, second best bang for the buck. I spent 3 months with a Nagaoka MP500, trying all sorts of things, and never liked it as much as either Grado--stock or retip. Could be my system (Denon 47F and Denon 60L). I thought my Stanton 881s, even with replaced stylus, sounded better. The other MM I also like better is a Grace F9e if you can find one reasonable, with soundsmith stylus....although slightly finicky for setup (much affected by proper VTA I thought). I was very surprised how good this sounded. The other bang for buck, mc-wise, other than Denon, may be a new Hana SL, on sale. I also use a Benz micro ruby HO (wood) in a different system and it is best of all, but pricey and but needs higher mass tonearm. I wouldn't worry about wood one way or another.