To "Step up", or not?

I have a general question(s) about the use of step up transformers; Am I better off buying a cartridge that may be higher output and that matches my current phono stage, or buying a lower output cartridge and introducing a step up transformer into the system? Are lower output cartridges generally speaking, better than higher output? For example, I have read in this forum, and others, about the Denon DL103R, and Shelter 501. I would purchase one of these in the future. However, my phono stage only has a gain of 53db, which is not enough for these cartridges. To include one of these fine cartridges in my system, I would need a step up transformer. I am wondering if I would get better sound with a medium output cartridge and not have the step up.