Cartridge - sweet spot on the cost/sound curve?

@elliottbnewcombjr 

Just a word of caution - there were several series of Shure V15 made, and they do not necessarily share compatible stylii. The V15 Type IV was the first with the built-in brush.  I inherited a V15 Type III and was looking for a Jico boron cantilever / Super Analog Stylus but I could get a complete AT540ML cartridge for the same price, so I did.

Then I spotted a Jico SAS/B stylus a bit cheaper from a seller in Japan, but they shipped a NUDE stylus worth only half as much instead!  Still fighting that one ...

Just responding the the title. The sweetspot is determined mostly by your financial situation. 

It is also determined by how good your table/arm/phono stage are. And by the rest of your system, for that matter. $500 cartridge in a $100k system is definitely not going to be the best value but $5k one can be.

Not quite. If a curve is traced where sound quality is on the X axis and cost is on the Y axis, there exists a theoretical infinite set of sweet spots ocurring at any point on the curve. By stipulating the budget of $500, the OP is looking for the best SQ/cartridge at that point on the curve. 

Just responding the the title. The sweetspot is determined mostly by your financial situation. 

richardbrand

"Just a word of caution - there were several series of Shure V15 made, and they do not necessarily share compatible stylii."

correct, Jico makes that clear in writing:

"There is NO interchangeability between VN5MR and VN5xMR. Please confirm your cartridge / stylus number and select suitable stylus."

they list which body the new Jico VN5MR stylus I posted (for the used V15V body I linked) fits:

"

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btw, another advantage made possible by SAS on lighter/stiffer cantilevers is LIGHTER TRACKING, these track avg. 1.25g,

the AT33PTG/II Microline tapered boron rod tracks avg. 2.0g. Larger contact area combined with lighter tracking: This is the major reason these advanced stylus have longer life, and of course less wear on the grooves.