cartridge recommendation

stone1,
For $350 the Platinum Reference (4.8mv) or the Platinum Statement (1mv). BTW, the Needle Doctor will give you a refund in case you are not pleased with the purchase!

chakster- i think i prefer a new  cartilage.

johnto - i saw that the  Soundsmith Carmen mk2 is 999$' its beyond my budget.

is there any advantage with MI over MM?

@Stone1- I'll let someone else tackle your question, though some years ago (late '80s?), I had a Well Tempered -the original one, which had been heavily tweaked and used a range of cartridges, mostly MC. One key to that arm was getting the 'right' amount of fluid in the cup b/c the damping could change the sound. I can't remember all the cartridges I used with it, but did have a Van De Hul (a higher output MC) and one of those Lyra Parnassus with the unobtanium magnets. Given the price of state of the art MC cartridges today, the notion of a vintage cartridge (even if rebuilt) may make sense, see below.
@chakster (and others)- I remember many of the cartridges you list from new, back in the day. That AT20 I had new, if I recall, it was an early Shibata- and considered a very good cartridge at the time.  This was circa 1973? or so and it was installed in an AT arm that had a pneumatic lift with a hose and cuing lever that mounted flush to the turntable plinth. (It was on a Technics SP 10 back then).
---
I'm just now going back and exploring some of these older cartridges- I've been using the fancy current ones, and the prices are getting daunting for top tier. I got a Monster Genesis 1000 to use as a stopgap and it is a little lean sounding, not bright, just not as full sounding in the lower midrange or as tonally rich as the Airtights I have been using for the last decade or so. But it is still breaking in and at the price, it is a phenomenal performer.
I had many Grados back in the day- they were always considered very good sounding for the money- I do remember some people had issues with hum, which may be due to the design and electrical noise thrown off from the motor? being picked up by the cartridge. 
Peter L from Soundsmith is a gift. 

The Grado MI's typically have 1/10 the inductance of most MM's - 45 millihenries vs. 450 mhenries. Smaller coils, faster transients! Way back when, the Grado FTE ($15!) was an easy recommendation for a "best buy" cartridge! Present day Grados are still great values! And they are USA-built!