Turntable Project and cart suggestions

A little back story....My father-in-law passed away in July and my wife and I inherited his vinyl collection which hadn't been touched in years. Most of it was in horrific shape, but there were a few gems I was excited about. Checked the local craigslist and found a Technics SL-D202 for $25. It needed a new cart, so I picked up a Shure M92E since I didn't want to sink a ton of cash into vinyl playback until I had more experience. Cleaned SRV's Couldn't Stand the Weather and dropped the needle. My jaw hit the floor. Cheap deck and cart, but I had never heard SRV sound this good on my system. Needless to say, now my interest is way up. The wife and I spent an afternoon having drinks and spinning old songs from her childhood.
Fast forward a couple months and I already have the upgrade bug, but still not wanting to drop a lot of cash down the rabbit hole. I find a Pioneer PL-518 with a Grado F1+ cart installed on craigslist for $100. Poking around on the net seemed to suggest this was a respectable starter table and I saw quite a few listed on the bay for double the price or more and figured I could make a profit if I didn't like the table. The drawback? It was ugly as sin.

While researching this table, I found a thread on another forum where a guy had put new veneer on the same model. I had never worked with veneer before, but my brother is good with that kind of stuff, so I figured why not give it a try. I also talked with a guy I work with, and he gave me enough veneer for about a half dozen tables. The finished results aren't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for my first try.

So this is where I need the advice from the turntable veterans on the forum. The Grado cart is ok, but I like the additional warmth of the Shure M92 on my other table. The Shure just seems more musical. The Grado a bit clinical. I'm thinking of trying the Shure M97 unless anyone has some suggestions on a good match for this table. I don't have a specific budget in mind, but probably under 3 bills.
Fast forward a couple months and I already have the upgrade bug, but still not wanting to drop a lot of cash down the rabbit hole. I find a Pioneer PL-518 with a Grado F1+ cart installed on craigslist for $100. Poking around on the net seemed to suggest this was a respectable starter table and I saw quite a few listed on the bay for double the price or more and figured I could make a profit if I didn't like the table. The drawback? It was ugly as sin.

While researching this table, I found a thread on another forum where a guy had put new veneer on the same model. I had never worked with veneer before, but my brother is good with that kind of stuff, so I figured why not give it a try. I also talked with a guy I work with, and he gave me enough veneer for about a half dozen tables. The finished results aren't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for my first try.

So this is where I need the advice from the turntable veterans on the forum. The Grado cart is ok, but I like the additional warmth of the Shure M92 on my other table. The Shure just seems more musical. The Grado a bit clinical. I'm thinking of trying the Shure M97 unless anyone has some suggestions on a good match for this table. I don't have a specific budget in mind, but probably under 3 bills.
Comments
Village Idiot of Club Polk
Village Idiot of Club Polk
Not sure on the cart recommendation. Grado's are typically known for their warmth and musicality.
What other gear is in the chain?
2 Channel
Turntable - VPI Scout 1.1/Ortofon 2M Blue
Amplification - Parks Audio Budgie, Dared SL2000a, McCormack DNA 0.5 Deluxe
Speakers - GoldenEar Triton 2
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7.1 Home Theater
Denon AVR-X3300W; Rotel RMB-1066; Polk CS350ls, LS90's, FXi3's, RC60i; SVS PC Ultra; BenQ HT2050; Elite Screens 120"
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Man Cave
Turntable - Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood/Grado Gold
Integrated Amplifier - Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II
CD: Cambridge Audio
Speakers - LSiM 703; SDA 2A; Epos Epic 2
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Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/171433/music-hall-mmf-5-1-tt#latest
BTW nice veneer...~~~
Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |
ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4
Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |
Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |
Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |
Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's
Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
I flip between a Sure Tracer 1 (M97) and an old Grado G cartridge on my Pioneer PL-530 depending on my mood. Usually I prefer the Grado. There are different alignment methods and protractors that make a difference too,
Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade), Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7; Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
Living Room:,T+A PA 1530R,Wireworld Silver Eclipse SC, Tyler Highland H2, High Fidelity Reveal RCA, Aries Mini, W4S recovery, LKS MH-da004,
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11.
Krell KAV 250a biamped to mid/highs
Parasound HCA1500A biamped to lows
Nakamichi EC100 Active xover
MIT exp 1 ic's
Perreaux SA33 class A preamp
AQ kingcobra ic's
OPPO 83 CDP
Lehmann audio black cube SE phono pre, Audioquest phono wire (ITA1/1)
Denon DP-1200 TT. AToc9ML MC cart.
Monster HTS 3600 power conditioner
ADS L1590/2 Biamped
MIT exps2 speaker cable