Out of all the contributors who were good enough to add to this post [& I do sincerely thank you all], lewm, you were the only one who read my question correctly.
As I stated "I’ve narrowed it down (price/output mV)", [chakster] you’ve hit the nail on the head " there is only one reason people buy HOMC cartridges, the reason is the phono stage that can’t handle LOMC".My Audion Premier 2.0 MM pre-amp does not have the gain for a L.O cartridge, that’s why I’m researching HOMC cartridges.
As for [mijostyn] I did compliment your knowledge, and was hoping you were a shop owner, cartridge rep, or someone in the trade. Shame you never learned the adage .... never assume, as you’ll only make ass out of - - - etc, etc. To quote you [" The Grado is not humming because of your system. It is humming because it does not like your turntable. Get one with a DC motor"]. My TT is an Oracle Dephi, which has a DC motor.
Again you assume " get yourself a little tube phonostage and do it right".
My AUDION Premier 2.0 Line Preamplifier / MM has a tube phonostage, and the thought of adding an external phono stage to what is one of the finest phono stages on the market, along with another set of interconnects is simply absurd.
Assumption #3, [It bothers me that you do not understand the relationship of mass to inertia]. Your talking to an engineer my priggish friend, and as for [ Are our high schools really failing our kids that badly]? I’m 59, and graduate school has been a good number of years ago, so wrong again. As a matter of fact the only thing you have got right is High Output MCs have to have a large coil structure, and for that I commend you.
[mijostyn], your Soundsmith Zephyr 2 suggestion was a good one, which lead me to further research the topic. I was intouch with My Kind of Music, in Toronto [super guys], and the owner was adamant that as good as the Zephyr III is, with my system, making the leap to the Adia is the prudent way to go. For the extra $500 U.S dollars the Adia is not an exercise in diminishing returns.
Unfortunatly with the exchange rate the way it is, out the door Soundsmith’s Adia is $3grand Canadian, but as the Chinese say "that’s the way the egg rolls.
Thx again for the input boys,
appreciated.