If you love the Ortofon 2M Black, you'll really love...... (help me upgrade)

IMO, 2M Black is the best cartridge of all time and at any prince. Enjoy it and treasure it. I have several at home and will buy more. Technicolor magic.

If the budget is up to $2500 then you can probably buy at least two superb cartridges like Grace Level II (or F-14) with the best possible stylus/cantilever combo like original Ruby/Elliptical or Boron/MicroRidge. Another favorite is Stanton SC-100 WOS signature with Sapphire Coated cantilever and Stereohedron II stylus. They are all high compliance MM, simply amazing. 

Again: with your budget you can buy 2-3 different MM chosing from the very best. Audio-Technica AT-ML180 OFC or OCC must be in this list too (imo). 

With any of them you will be blown away by its quality. And having at least two for the price of one (within your budget) is safe

Thanks Chakster but I'm not looking to get back into the vintage market. 

@dhcod 

Thanks Chakster but I'm not looking to get back into the vintage market.  

If they are NOS you are safe, no ?

Anyway, i'm curious what you can get with $2500 limit, except the usual suspects from Ortofon, Nagaoka, AT, Dynavector ?

Maybe you should look for the Miyajima Shilabe or Kansui if you want something interesting. 

 One thing is for sure, while I am certain it is a very fine product, there is no way that the 2M black is the finest cartridge ever made in history. So you can start from that. After that, it would be a matter of your opinion. Perhaps you might want to start with other Ortofon cartridges that are ranked superior by Ortofon, in the sense that the retail price is higher or according to build quality. If you stick with Ortofon  products, you are likely to preserve the sound quality that you seem to admire so much in the 2M black. I own several  Ortofon MC cartridges, and it is my observation that they do share a certain very neutral house sound.