Cartridge suggestions for SME Turntable

Dear @jperry  : "   It is. Matter of personal taste. I have heard Lyra cartridges and not my cup of tea.

I have heard a Benz LPS on a SME tonearm...""

yes but i think you not owned the 309. In the otherside I don't posted the LP-S is not a good cartridge as a fact I was a " fanatic " of Benz-Micro and I owned: the Ruby, Ruby 2, Ruby 3, LP and LP-S so I like it the Benz-Micro designs even I still own the Carnegie 2 marketed by Madrigal that was designed in a collaboration between Benz-Micro and vdH: very good performer.

But I like Lyra too, I owned the : Evolve, Helikon, Clavis, Clavis D'Capo, Skala, Titan, Kleos and listened in my system the Etna and Atlas and listened too in an Agoner system the Olympos.

Lyra puts me nearer to the recording against Benz-Micro.

Btw, I think that you need to test your balanced design tonearm in static way that's something that @lalitk  must try too.

Pro-Ac speakers is something that any audiophile needs to listen some time really first rate speakers as the Tannoy.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Lalitk Iam using ICON ps3 mark 2 phonostage.

Raul, I am not sure people understand the different types of balance tonearms can have and how they affect performance. 
Tonearms either have Neutral or Static balance. Static balance is what you usually have. Balance the arm so that it floats perfectly horizontally. Lift the headshell 1/2 inch and gently let go. The arm will start oscillating up and down looking for the balance point which it will eventually find. 
Neutral balance is more difficult to achieve. The center of mass at both ends of the arm have to be in line with the pivot. Carry out the same procedure as you did with the static balance arm and when you lift the headshel 1/2 inch and gently let go it will just stay there motionless. Anywhere you put the headshell it will stay. This is what you want in a tonearm, much superior warp tracking. Static balance arm bounce on their cantilever and if the warp is bad enough will leave the record. A neutral balance arm will not do this. To be neutral balance with all cartridges you have to have an adjustable counterweight like the Schroder CB or the Reed 2G. I think the Tri Planar is also a neutral balance arm. The SAT arm interestingly is not. It is Static Balance all the way and it's vertical bearing is high above the record another no no. The Schroder CB will outperform the SAT arm all day long. So why does Michael Fremer like it so much? If I had to guess it is expensive and it looks cool. An expensive, very well made poor design. Go figure

Dear @mijostyn :  Yes, that was a kind of explanation with different end subjects.

The other way and the one I'm refering to is the way we set up the VTF where static balance designs makes the job using natural force of gravity and between other advantages this way the tonearm counterweigth will be nearer to the tonearm pivot/bearing/fulcrum.

With that concept the balance way is where the VTF is applied by a kind of spring mechanism that always tend to resonates by it self and where the counterweigth normally is not so nearer to the pivot as the static balance designs. In the balanced design that spring mechanism force/obligates the tonearm to always stays under the determined VTF and this causes severalproblems to mantain VTA/SRA and the cantilever suspension natural movements.

The only balanced tonearm designs with a non-resonant mechanism were the MAX-282 and the Lustre GST-801 both great quality performer designs.

I owned both and even with the non-resonant VTF set up mechanism I always prefered to run it in static way, the same with my SME V, FR and Ikeda samples.

For me make no sense anymore to design today a tonearm with VTF balanced set up way.

R.

latitk,

You have a nice table and arm combination.  A friend has that arm (with upgraded bearings) and it is very good at bringing out the best tracking performance of a the Lyra Titan and Transfiguration Orpheus cartridges we tried in that arm.  I think you have wide-open options on cartridges with which it will work well.  A cartridge that I heard recently that should be added to the long list here is the Audio Technica ART 1000.  It is a very dynamic and lively sounding cartridge that is also sweet and musical.