Analog Upgrade - Where to start?

@rauliruegas you really don't have to SHOUT, I'm well aware the cartridge is the source. I have over 30 of them. But system synergy involves more than simply choosing the 'best' cartridge you can afford.

If the OP is convinced by your suggestions he will be replacing a Dynavector XV-1S - still a current model that retails for 5k - by a Colibri or other high level MC, probably costing >5k. I really hope this will get him what he's looking for, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I am not sure it will help the discussion much but the PS Audio Stellar Phono stage replaced a Tom Evans The Groove (from 2003).  I was happy enough with the Tom Evans though there are certainly much better phono stages mentioned by members on this thread. The reason for making the change is that the Tom Evans met an untimely end at the hands of a young family member.

As you see, us audiophiles don’t have very strong opinions on this stuff lol. From here, the only way to add clarity to your particular situation will be to try something. Maybe you’ll fall into the camp of Raul and friends, who like clean SS phono stages and fast, clean, neutral, does-everything-well cartridges like Ortofon A90 or Van Den Hul Colibri - it’s very fine sounding gear; nothing wrong with that! Or maybe you’ll swoon to fat sounding tube phono stages, full bodied SUTs, and cartridges with softer-sounding-than-neodymium magnets e.g. Koetsu (as I do, most of the time). Or maybe you’ll have the most fun mixing and match from both sides! Only you can answer now.

I think everyone’s impressed by your table & arms, so at least that hasn’t come under the gun (yet), lol. And personally I’d love to try a Dynavector XV-1s (alnico magnets, etc). I’ll be shocked if that ends up being the weak link, unless it’s worn.

At the risk of totally being off track here, and not to diminish the high likelihood that a cartridge change will indeed give the OP what he is looking for, does anyone think the combo of Pass XA60.8 and Avant-Guard a strange one? I clearly don’t know AG speakers well enough to know if they like high current SS amps but I do know they are highly efficient and to me that usually suggests tubes as a better (but potentially noisier) choice.  Are there impedance curves a better match with SS?

One problem I have had selecting cartridges in the past is that nobody seems willing to let you do a home trial … I can understand why. Each system and room is so idiosyncratic that I don’t see how you can select a cartridge without trying it in your system, especially those +$5,000 cartridges.  That is a lot of money to spend when you can’t know how it will sound in your system/room.  How do you overcome this?