What are the most balanced relatively neutral cartridges at each price level ?

I don't know how to answer this question.  Maybe start with measurements.  Frequency response, distortion, and channel separation?  I believe doing that leads nowhere. To start I compared my Cadenza Black to my ART20.  They are both balanced, neutral and all that good stuff, but they sound different.  I did it with a couple of others before giving up.  Forget it.  There is no right answer to this question.  At any given price point each of us must listen and choose, there is no other way.

Oh, I forgot to mention the element of subjectivity.  One man’s meat is another man’s poison.  My absolute favorite mono cartridge is the 2M Mono SE, which is the mono version of the 2M Black.  I prefer it to a $2,000 MC that shall go nameless so as to avoid offense.  I prefer my 2M Black to any other sub $1K stereo cartridge that I own, although I have one of the vaunted Shure V15 Mr w/Jico deals and a very good Stanton 881 that are also better to me than any of the MC in that price range.  But that is my preference and it goes without saying that YRMV.  Just additional grist for the mill.  This question is like searching for the Holy Grail.

Do you mean to tell me the SME V is not still considered a reference tonearm?  I must be seriously out of touch.  Please define what you mean by reference.

Not my reference point, never was even back in the day when I had tape decks and recorded live bands.  For me references are musical instruments, performances, people I am familiar with.  I know what a Yamaha C7 sounds like and if in doubt I can listen to the one that is in my listening room.  I know what K. Zildjian cymbals sound like, my Ludwig drum set has two rides, one crash and a pair of hi-hats sitting right beside me.  I go to live performances regularly, have perfect pitch. Know violins from violas and can tell when someone is out of tune.  Frankly I don't see anything wrong with using digital references.  Master dubs on the other hand I have a problem with.  Where did they come from?  What mics were used?  How many mics?  What kind of a mixing console?  Who was the engineer?  It is hard to know some times.  Might be good, might not.

Stringreen,

The least you can do is get the name right.  Ortofon Windfeld.  I agree with you it is a very nice cartridge.  One of the best.

Dogberry,

I believe you are operating under a false assumption although I can understand why.  There are those of us in the colonies who totally understand and respect SME.  I do not own an SME V.  I do own other SME arms, but that was not my question.  Your reply is telling, however.  Wrong headed people apparently believe the SME V is not still considered a reference tonearm.  Never mind that it performs at a reference level that very few can match and in my experience damn few can even approach.  Thank you for your insight.

Winfeld guys, not Windfield.  A wonderful cartridge.  

Interesting, mine is one of the original type and it is clearly Winfeld.  Anyway they are terrific.  Case in point, back to the subject of this thread, when I compared mine to the original AT1000 it would have come in the lesser of those two in sound quality, IMHO.

edsemble,

You are right these issues matter irrespective of source be it analog or digital.  

I believe your solution is the correct one.