Cartridge upgrade


Hi all.  I have a quick question.  I have a Marantz TT-15S1 turntable that I've been enjoying for the last couple of years.  I am still using the included MM Clearaudio Virtuoso wood cartridge that has served me well so far.  At the end of last year, I upgraded my phono stage to a Manley Chinook that I like a lot.  I am looking to upgrade my cartridge this fall.  I was looking at Kiseki Purple Heart NS.  My question is this, does it make sense to put a $3,400 cartridge on a $1,700 (base audiophile) table?  I imagine there will be some sound improvement but how much?

rfauto

@rfauto I also forgot to mention you have to go into the unit and set gain to 45 dB. The instructions tell you how to do that. On the back you set the dip switches to 47k.  

@rfauto what dealer are you working with? It would be one that I would want to stay clear of. 

That’s kind of what I thought too. I currently have my Clearaudio Virtuoso V1 MM carts gain set at 45db, load resistance at 47k ohms and a load capacitance of 100pf. So, the moving iron Soundsmith is virtually the same….  The other reason I went with the Hana was that I got $800 off of the $2500 list by trading in my old cart. That got me into the sub $2000 for a new cartridge.  It made more sense going that direction on my current table. I’m still going to buy a Voice at some point, probably when I buy another turntable. I’ve been looking at VPI Classic Signatures. Add a 10’ Fatboy tonearm and a Soundsmith Voice. I’ve got some house projects going on. So, I’m not quite ready to spend the cash.