Moving from MM to MC

@tooblue Grace are better on light mass tonearms, the compliance of Grace cartridges are extremely high and Technics tonearm is not optimal for them, but i’ve tried my F-9F (Shibata) and F14 LC-OFC on stock technics tonearm, the F14 is much better, but even F9 is much more expensive that the OP budget as i can see.

F9-R normally goes for $600 with original stylus (cartridge body goes alone for $200 without stylus at all) and F14 for $1200 with original stylus. SoundSmith best styli for Grace looks ugly and cost $500 just for the stylus!

While the Ortofon M20FL with nude FineLine stylus cost less than $350 (it’s a bargain) and it’s a better match for Technics stock tonearm. Also original styli are still available NOS from various sources. 

@chakster, like I said so many variables, which you have listed just a few.

@chakster makes a good point. He is using a modified tonearm with better damping than your stock Technics. And your stock TT is not optimal for MC. There are many good MM/MI carts available for $300 which would be a significant upgrade in SQ.

Some cartridges to also think about are Clearaudio Aurum Beta S, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood--used.  Either would be about $300-400.  If later on you wished to upgrade the sound, the Cartridge Man Music Maker III is very nice sounding and more detailed than most of the MM's.  I picked up one used on Agon for $500.  It lists for $1295.  None of these would need a step up device.  I've had the Clearaudio cartridges in a very fine Maplenoll Ariadne straight line tracking air bearing TT/arm combo.  Any would be a large step up in sound quality to the Shure.  I had the V15 back in college.  OK is all.

The advice I was given by my local store is invest in the cart and not all the things you need to make it sound good.  That's why I went with a $700 MM and not $200 on a MC and another $500 to make it compatible with my amp which already has a phono stage input.