Marantz TT15/ Clearaudio Satisfy for MC carts?

A lot of turntables that come with a cartridge have "throw in" cartridges, but I would not describe the Virtuouso as a "throw in".  It's a very capable cartridge.  I currently have mine mounted on my souped up Technics SL1200 MK2.  

I would go so far as to say that the cartridge is the best thing about that turntable, followed by the tonearm, with the turntable itself being a little on the cheap side. 

There isn't much mass to the platter or plinth and the feet aren't that great.  The motor can have a tendency to slide around, which will affect speed, or introduce noise if it comes into contact with the plinth.  The power button is on the side of the motor, which sits under the table.  I'm not sure if the TT15 is the same as the Emotion in this regard, but there are two grounding wires, one that loosely attaches under the center spindle in addition to the tonearm wire.  You might not need to use the second wire under the spindle, but if you do it's a little fussy to set up since it connects underneath the table.  

I put a thin sheet of sorbothane under the motor to isolate it and keep it from sliding around.  If you have a surface where it won't slide around, that may not be necessary.  My table came with the Emotion Aluminum Feet (should also work on the TT15), which are very nice. 

The only downside about the Virtuouso cartridge is that the cantilever sticks way out in front of the body and is very easy to unintentionally remove.  When/if you snap yours off, Andy Kim will replace it with a better one and you'll have an even better cartridge.

@big_greg

I am using SL1200MK2/4/6 TTables for a long time, love them much for reliability and performance, here is my OP:

1): you will get nice SQ by adding Audio Technica MM cartridge, I personally found  the best sounding one is Audio Techinca AT20! Other AT MM carts will work well too, to name a few: AT-150MLX, AT ML160/170, haven’t tried yet latest 740/760 series, but those should be similar. For best results I am using high end AT head-shells, LS/LH/MS series.

2): the best tonearm for SL1200 I tried is SL1200MK4, which is Technics own “audiophile” version of S shaped arms, and uses Titanium to dampen resonances.  MK4 TT arm has handy RCA connectors for exploring variety of phono cables. Latest original series SL-1200MK6 table arm is cool too, seems it uses less resonating not fully disclosed alloy, and better wiring, SL-1200MK6 has better main body dampening as well, so, that table is worth to try.

3): There is one improvement I would recommend if you hear inner tracks 60Hz hum noise, is replacing power transformer with better shielded / toroidal one. 

The Best MM cartridges are MP cartridges from Nagaoka. I have two TT and run the MP200 on my Clearaudio Concept and the MP110 on my Thorens TD145. Fantastic. 

Nagaoka cartridges are very nice. Having said that, I had a MP-500 and sold it, while keeping the Clearaudio Virtuoso. I no longer have a Clearaudio turntable. Again, I would suggest listening to the TT15 with the Virtuoso and then decide if you want something else. 

I think it would be hard to go wrong with the Marantz. I even bought a $20 gizmo from Amazon, which is a grounded female outlet, wired to a male grounded plug. This comes with a mini hand held remote enabling you to turn on/off anything plugged in to it.... Sort of a heavy duty version of the ones Home Depot sells for turning a Christmas tree on/off via a remote. This device will allow me to bypass the power switch which is located on the rear leg of the TT15. So no chance of moving the motor like a few owners have mentioned. Another interesting option would be the Merrill GEM Dandy, but since Jelco is no longer making tonearms, that has become a pricier proposition. The Mo-Fi Studio/Ultradeck tables also look interesting. The shop where I listened to Marantz also had the Mo-Fi. They felt the Mo-Fi was more laid back sounding. I think my system balance with the Compact 7’s would appreciate the more lively TT15.