Reasonable moving coil cartridge

$200-300 USD for MC cartridge? I think it’s impossible to find any good one at this budget, you need a LOMC, not a HOMC as suggested above.

High Output MC have more coil winding, they are always inferior in comparison to the Low Output MC, so my advice is to stay away from the HOMC.

Each time you think about cheap MC cartridge remember that you will have to re-tip it after 600hrs (if the tip is elliptical, but on cheap MC there is only conical or elliptical), the cost of re-tip is more than the cost of your cartridge, you’re buying another cartridge every 600 hrs or you send yours for re-tip, they got you. You trying to save money on low budget MC, but actually you will pay more. That’s the trick.

Most of the cartridges at this price range will be mediocre, because most likely you can find only Conical tip at this price, Aluminum cantilever. The price is even lower than awful Denon 103.

You’d be better with MM or MI cartridges, but still the budget is too low, i think $350-450 is enough to buy absolutely perfect MM with advanced stylus profile and great sound (much better than most of the LOMC at this price). And you can replace the stylus by yourself.

In my opinion the best you can get for about $350-450 is MM, as pointed out in another thread Stanton/Pickering with STEREOHEDRON stylus are the best among low budget MM. Read.

Another favorite is Pioneer PC-1000 mkII with beryllium cantilever.
Victor cartridges are great, for some of them brand new JICO SAS styli available.

You can also look for Audio-Technica with MicroLine stylus and Garrott with Micro Scanner MKII MM cartridges.
But make sure you’re buyin’ phono cartridge with great stylus profile (definitely not conical) and it must be nude diamond, not bonded.

A Denon DL-301 MK II is a really nice cartridge.  From a dealer they are $400.  I saw one on an auction site for $300 -  https://www.ebay.com/p/2302336364

Having said that, why would you spend almost as much on a cartridge as the turntable?  An entry level table like that isn't going to do justice to a better cartridge.  It's a nice entree into the world of vinyl just to see if you like it or not, but if you care about sound quality, you'll end up selling it before long.  Instead of going through that exercise, I'd suggest looking for a used table of better quality, at least equivalent to the Music Hall 5.X series.

Agree with chakster. Don't bother with a cheap mc cartridge. In your price range mm is better performance. Yes vintage is best but if that’s not for you just buy new. Still better to do some research and buy vintage. Even in a higher budget,  many here still prefer vintage mm to expensive mc. Im just learning this myself. Ive been into audio since the 80’s and always used mc. I wish i was guided better back then when i could buy these great mm new from the store. 

About the denon mc. It only sounds good in an expensive heavy arm. Imo. So whats the point.

You mean like that heavy expensive arm on my Technics SL1200 MK2?

I don't think that a Music Hall 1.5 is worth spending any money on, but that's a different topic...