$200ish TT cart?

Well, I know there are a few good choices at the $60-85 range like the M97xe and the AT440ML. Some like the Ortofon OM Super series that fits in your budget. There are also some fans of the Grado Prestige Gold/Silver carts, but hum can be a problem with those.
Pushing the limit of your budget, one of the best choices that I know of would be the Benz Micro MC-Silver. It is a high output MC design that is rated at 2.0mv output. Probably of the better choices for around $225 (with old cart trade-in credit). My brother has one that he uses and is quite happy with it. He uses it on his less than pristine vinyl and saves his Ebony for the pristine stuff.

unc2701 wrote:

Cool- that benz will work with my budget & pre... plus I've got a few crap carts that I can part with for the trade in.

Thanks!

I was hoping that a few others chimed in here to give opinions one way or the other. There is much cartridge talk over at AudioKarma and of course at VinylEngine forums, so you may want to read around at those other forums some more before you plunk your cash down.

My real question would be whether the Benz Silver is that much better than the two sub-100 cartridges that are so often mentioned around the forums (M97xe/AT440ML). Is it worth the extra $125-$150? After all, the AT440ML has a "list" price of like $219, but LPGear sells it for $84. Benz just doesn't sell their carts for below list.

unc2701 wrote:

I'll probably get a new needle for the stanton, so I'll let you know how a $120 "audiophile" needle stacks up against the benz. Might also try out the shure if I can find it on sale -I could stand to replace the needles on my 1200's, but those are my "I'm drunk and feel like listening to loud music" decks so I don't want to spend as much on them.

You can get the Shure from this guy on ebay. Lowest price around at this time. $68 shipped and they have quite a few available. Quite a few AK'ers have purchased from them and been very happy.