Advice needed on MC cartridges

The Graham Phantom is really more like a hybrid - greatly damped and stabilized by the lateral magnetic "bearing". I agree - in setup and use the Graham is as easy and comfortable as it gets in high-end analog! 

The original VPI unipivot is an example of the wobble-fest that a lot of people hate. Even the unipivot bearing itself is not comparable to the Graham's, which is made of much higher quality materials and damped with a silicon bath. 

The VPI dual pivot does help (at the slight expensive of another friction surface) and I've found the 3D arm equipped with it to be quite usable and nice sounding. 

expecting universal agreement isn’t gonna happen…given you don’t want to change arm and TT, you got good advice to seek out magico owners running your phono preamp…..

Jasonbourne is right on the money.  The Hana is fantastic; virtually nothing to compare to those overrated Ortofon's, especially a 2M ( kind of plodding and boring really ).  An Audio Technica at half the price of a 2M would at the very least be its equal, if not better.  I'm done spending thousands of dollars on a cartridge.  When my Dynavector dies, the Hans SL low output is where I'm heading. at a third the price.  

@safebelayer , here we are with ears again. In reality what something sounds like is unrelated to how something performs. Just because the moving coil market is different than the high output market means you are going to spend much more for similar PERFORMANCE. You can get a Gyger S stylus in  $600 GOLDRING, a $2000 Clearaudio Charisma, a $5000 VDH and a  $17K Goldfinger. There is a lot more to a cartridge's performance than the stylus but still.

If you believe what any one individual says a piece of equipment sounds like is an indication of it's performance...well, good luck to you. Most people, audiophiles included have absolutely, incontrovertibly no idea what they are listening to which means their opinion of what something sounds like should be suspect. It only applies to the individual. Usually, whatever they just bought sounds best. 

Let me post another and different question than one on unipivots, that may be less controversial. At the worst I can probably solve that issue with the VPI dual pivot mod mulveling suggested.

Mijostyn mentioned early on this thread, and above, there is a substantial monetary premium to pay for selecting a MC type cartridge, due to the popularity of MC’s. So today I began researching MI cartridges as suggested. With a budget in mind of three to four thousand dollars, do you think I should categorically be able to purchase a substantially better cartridge going the MI route? Or might it rather be more a matter of preference due to how each sounds.

The Soundsmith site lists a well reviewed MI cartridge called the PAUA MK II ES at $4000. Do any of you know how might compare with similarlly priced MC cartidges such the Hana Umani Red, Lyra Kleos, Van den Hull Frog, Charisma Audio Signature, Koetsu Rosewood Standard, Benz Micro Ebony. or others similarly priced. If MI cartridges are relatively speaking a much better value without a built in markup, it appears you could get much better cartridge at the same price with an MI. What do you think? Is that overly obvious or too simplistic? Any advice and guidance would be appreciated. Thanks all,

Mike