Who's done it besides me ?

@mijostyn, funny how experience are often not quite the same... 
Firstly, I did have more than one quality issue with e.g. Ortfon, such like skew cantilever, gaping cartridge body of two different and then top MCs of theirs. So much for that. 

Mostly reasonably good MMs tended to sound more musical, using SUT and straight MC into pre made not the hoped for improvement using MCs for me. 🤪 

Right now I'm using a P77 cart into MM input of Levison pre with 47k standard loading is more musical than e.g. my Cadenza Black with my Fidelity Research X1 medium, and there are some other vintage MMs at least challenging both my Cadenza and Quintet Black. 

With all the MCs I've owned I fiddled for ever with the loading all over the place from 50 through 47k ohm, when using MC 60dB input and NEVER heard that more musical liquid sound of my far older vintage MMs. 

In short, high, higher, highest resolution is NOT quite the answer if it creates a sound more like some middling CD sound. 

And so, as I said, experiences do differ, for better or for worse 😉
Michélle 

Justmetoo, look at the bright side. You are certainly saving a lot of money.
There are too many variables at play for me to be able to explain your experience. As an example, if your speakers are on the bright side many MC cartridges will sound edgy. The real expensive ones will not. I currently have an Ortofon Windfeld Ti and it's construction is meticulous. There are very few cartridges that can better it's sound and they are painfully expensive. As for cartridges at the bottom end of their line I can not say. The Windfeld is currently the least expensive cartridge I own. Of course, it is just as easy to break the cantilever off an expensive cartridge as a cheap one and even more tragic. The Talisman is actually the best value in the Clearaudio line and a very fine sounding cartridge once it is broken in. Clearaudio cartridges start out too bright. This goes away in 50 hours or so. 
Tomstruck, are you going to send it back to clear audio? If you are please tell us how much it cost to repair it!

@mijostyn,
yeah, kind and true words. 
My Burmester 961 speakers with AMT tweeters are not easily to be called, - 'mellow'. They are very resolving and the all Mundorf caped x-overs make it however never ear-flossing like, thankfully.
Of course there is also my SME V tonearm and SME 10 tt, all Ag wired from cart pins through to phono-pre input.
Yet, the tonality of all me known and heard MCs e.g. Lyras, Peer Windfeld I owned, to Transfiguration Orpheus cartridge, to mention some I recall, ALL top MCs for my humble pocket, sounded different, less 'harmonic'. No fiddling, no loading variation, SUT or not, and even using different phono preamps, however always solid state ones. 
There we go. 
One, Lyra Dorian with a snapped of cantilever I'd also had repaired by Jan Allaerts, it was no good with a top Gyger stylus on boron cantiler, and not much improved at all after a further expensive rework. So much for 'top' re-tipping services.
Not to be repeated for me either. 
Just sharing, one may take from it what ever makes sense 😉
Michélle 

I have snapped off the cantilever on my Clearaudio Virtuouso, not once, but twice.  The second time was shortly after I had it retipped.  After that, it sat in it's box for a long time, I was afraid to use it out of fear of snapping it off again.  I hate the way the cantilever extends so far in front of the body.  I do have it mounted again and it sounds great, but I'm super paranoid when I use that turntable (which is not very often).  I had the first retip done by Soundsmith and the second by Andy Kim.  I didn't get to spend enough time with the Soundsmith retip to form an opinion.  Andy was a lot faster and easier to work with and more affordable.  He would be my first choice if I ever find myself needing that service again.  Nothing negative about Soundsmith, I just liked dealing with Andy better.

Chakster to each his own. Only MM cartridges have removable styli. I know of no MM cartridge including the Ortofon 2M Black that can approach the performance of a modern MC cartridge, or a wood bodied Grado. I have owned all of them, Shure, Pickering, several Stantons, Empire, ADC, Goldring and I’m probably missing a few. Why?

I can recall some in random order ( i use some with 100k Ohm loading):

1) Grace LEVEL II (LC-OFC) BR/MR (Boron, Micro Ridge), orange plastic insert.

2) Grace F14 (LC-OFC) Beryllium / Line Contact, blue plastic insert.

3) Audio-Technica AT-ML180 OCC beryllium or Boron version, MicroLine stylus.

4) Glanz MFG-61 Boron cantilever, PH stylus tip.

5) Stanton SC-100 WOS, Sapphire coated cantilever, Stereohedron II tip.


I like MC cartridges too: Miyabi, Miyajima, FR-7fz just to name a few.