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

I’m just gonna throw it out there, Nagaoka MP-500.

only $650 too. I'm sure it will get shunned for its lowly price. 

I've just been discussing this same question my local dealer but with an upper limit of 1k (Rega Exact vs 2M Black), the other one in this range I really want to hear is  The Vessel R3SM

https://www.lpgear.com/product/THEVESSELR3SM.html 

The Vessel blurb is a turn off:

The creative brief for The Vessel™ cartridge series is simple: "Allow the artist to express his music with its amalgam of contradiction as it is elevates and transcends with the natural and artificial interpretation of the human art."

Vessel is a rebranded Excel cartridge from Japan. Same guys who make the Hana. 

Clearaudio MM cartridges are cheap Audio-Technica’s encapsulated in wood coverings. 

Ortofon 2M Black obliterates the above in every possible way.

Go for “ Benz”