Cartridge for Rega Planar 3?

Btw. The Herbies mat on the stock platter is killer.  No need for acrylic which can have its own coloration. 
And do give it that rega nudge. Belt will last much  longer.  

I have just bought a new P3 with the premounted Elys cartridge. I haven't spun vinyl in over 30 years. My last turntable was a Mitsubishi connected to a Pioneer receiver and some Bose speakers. I will now be hooking this new turntable up to a Parasound 200 watt amp, a Conrad Johnson PV-5 preamp's phono output and some Elac speakers. My question is, based on the huge difference the CJ had on the sound of everything else, is wouldn't the phono section to this preamp (or any other preamp or receiver) have a larger impact than the cartridge? If that holds true, then how can one make comparisons or recommendations based on their systems when these other variables may actually have a larger impact than the cartridge itself? I see it as an endless game of very expensive guessing.

High output MC make no sense, so it must be LOMC or MM/MI
I have no personal experience with Rega turntable, but cartridge must be selected for the tonearm, calculation is pretty easy if you know your cartridge compliance @ 10 Hz and tonearm effective mass.

I would recommend Victor X-1II mid compliance MM with rare Beryllium cantilever and Nude Shibata stylus tip. One of those amazing vintage MMs that you can't go wrong with. Superb sound quality if you're able to find NOS or MINT- sample. Ask if you need help. 

Nagaoka MP110 or MP150. I have both and they are superb cartridges that are appropriately priced.

Hi @williewonka ! I'm asking because I don't really have deep knowledge of MC cartridge settings, I wonder if a Schiit Mani preamp "with a response rate up to 20 kHz" would process the high output of an MC cartridge with a response rate up to 45 kHz.