New cartridge $500 range

Hana is Excel Sound Inc. This is an old manufacturer or MM and MC cartridges under their own Brand (Excel Sound) and for other brands too.

It’s affordable, but nothing special. Cartridges from Excel Sound were around since the 70’s.

Watch factory tour here.

A cheap MC cartridge with SUT is not cheap in total. Low output carts cause a lot of problems if the system is not top class. And think about re-tipping them, you can use Hana for certain amount of hrs, but what next ?

Look for MM with user replaceable stylus.

If you want only NEW cartridges then look for Garrott P77i (the price on their site is not USD, but AUD). In USD it’s $540 and in my opinion this is the best NEW cartridge you can buy! You can change the stylus yourself. 

Your phono stage supports MC cartridges.  Give a Denon DL-301 MKII a try.  One of the best values out there and within your budget.

AT OC9/II.  Good match for your system and a great bang-for-the-buck cartridge.  It might just be the best cart for your system.   

I wasn’t going to chime in here because I don’t have experience with many of the cartridges mentioned here, but as I thought about it, I’ve had several in my time. Including Dynavector, Denon, Several mid to upper end Audio Technica, A Sumo Coil, Grado, Nagatron, Nagaoka, Goldring, ADC, Pickering and Stanton.
When I read this thread, my thoughts instantly went to 2.For MM, Nagaoka, as high as you can afford and For MC, the Audio Technica AT OC9/II.... What also came to mind is to do significantly better than the Project phono, you’d probably have to step up to something like a Rega Fono/Rega Mini fono A2D, but beware, the Rega MM or MC phono sections are not really adjustable, you would need a cartridge that was a good match for these. The Sim Moon 110LP V2 is a solid choice also.  If money isn’t an issue, I’d look at the Graham Slee phono sections. I don’t know your phono section at all, but I can say that when I upgraded my preamp to an SST Ambrosia, the phono section made allllll the difference in the world and a good phono stage matters. Consider this as strongly as the cartridge. I hope this all helps and makes since. Tim

Just to add, another terrific cartridge IMO is the Ortofon 2m bronze. It sounds fantastic running through a tubed phono stage. $440. The tubes tame some of the dry analytical qualities and add warmth... I got one on my music hall mmf-7.3 ( one of 6 turntables I own). I disagree with stereophile reviewer that the 2m was lacking....he swapped it for the much brighter sounding Golding Elite mc cartridge and seemingly thought it brought the mmf-7.3 to life. If you like fatiguing bright sounding cartridges then I guess go that route. I’m extremely happy with the 2m bronze. My heart lies with the Hana EL though.

One last recommendation for moving coil is the Golding Eroica lx mc cartridge. Much better sounding than the aforementioned Elite, as it is a better all rounder with no brightness or fatigue, an honest sounding cartridge (neutral). I Picked one up from Elusive Disc for $599 recently.

I have discovered over the years that SS amplification combined with tubed preamplification (phono preamp) provides the most enjoyable vinyl experience.