As a general rule of thumb spend as much on cartridge as you have on phono pre. In your price range and Ortofon would work. MC cartridges are usually more expensive than MM cartridges.
Vinyl noob needs help with cartridge
I wanted to,dip into vinyl so I swung a deal on a super scoutmaster signature. I am now trying to decide on a cart. I am a vinyl newbie and have been trying to bone up on everything. I was originally going to get an ortofon 2m black, but it's more than I really want to spend. I considered the 2m bronze, the sound smith otello (or the modded version from mapleshade), and the zu audio modded denon103. Anyone have an opinion on those choices? Is the 2m black worth the extra? Any others closer to 500.00 that are of honorable mention?