Cartridges in general

Do the current cartridge manufacturers fall into different schools of basic design. Or do most of the manufacturers follow the same design principle but just use a different execution?

I am not talking about MM vs MI vs MC etc But say within MC cartridge design or within MM design.

Do Lyra, Dynavector and van den Hul as example follow the same design principle or are the designed very differently even though they are all MC?

Have a look at a Dynavector Karat, Dr T, and Ke Taikora - all very different.
Koetsus appear to all appear to follow a similar design - but they do keep changing materials and bodies
I think Van Den Huls vary depending on the cartridge series.
EMT's follow the same design.
It all depends on each manufacturer.

Back to jcarr's comment about not understanding rauls aversion to SUTs, oftentimes I don't think Raul makes a lot of sense. I do enjoy his posts though, and one has to admire his enthusiasm. 
SUTs work amazingly well, if you have a good one. 
Re cartridges I would like to try a decca or non magnetic core like an AT art7

The ASIA audiophile market is BIG on SUTs, but not the western world. Most all Japanese MC cartridge manufacturers make, or made SUTs, for their home market.

For more info visit Asian audio websites.

I would love to have an old Cotter SUT with all the gain and strapping options to try.

My friend Dertonarm try to convince me to use a SUT 10 years ago. I was
scared by their complexity as well by my own perspective with my + 40 MC
carts because I thought that ech of them would need an special SUT.
The ''pudding methaphor'' crossed my mind recently so I started with the FRT-4
which can be used with the most MC carts . The price which was lower than any
of my MC carts was an added argument. I was so surprised with the result
of  proof ( aka ''the pudding'') that I asked myself what the result would be with
an more expensive SUT? This kind of questions ''explain'' my + 40 MC carts
btw. So I bought the Denon AU-S1. Build like a German tank but with the minimal wire connections possible. A kind of simplicity added to complexity.
There is no way back to exotic and expansive MC phono-pres. I should listen
to my friend Dertonarm 10 years ago.