Upgrade from Rega Elys 2

My tastes lean more toward the warmer, but it depends on the instrument that's the most prominent and that I'd like to hear the most clearly. The black is within the upper stretches of the budget at this point. I'll look at the Nagaoka as well. 

Obvious choice , unless you get off playing all day with shim's", is Rega Exact, a fine honest cartridge .

If you like warm you should check out Grado!

@audiosavage1 - Can you switch to MC ?

If yes then you could try the Denon DL-103 or one of the many versions from people like soundsmith, or Zu - two companies that upgrade the standard 103 for even better performance.

If your phono stage does not have enough gain - try the Denon DL-110 

I've had Denon on my TT for several years - I had the Elys 2 for a very short while, but switched to the 103 and never looked for anything else

Regards - Steve

The MoFi allows for either MM or MC. I don't mind playing around with the shims if it would make a tremendous difference. Getting to play around with things to get the best out of them is half the fun of having an analog system. 
Thanks again for the advice.