Dear @kevemaher : Per sé no one could say if your TT/tonearm is good enough and the tonearm can match really good with any cartridge not only high end ones but you when you listen your new cartridge.
One thing is way critical and has a " heavy weigth " in the quality level performance of any cartridge and that's is the tonearm. Cartridge and tonearm is one unit and any cartridge/tonearm combination have its own signature/color, you change the tonearm with the same cartridge and will sounds a little different with different " colorations ".
What I can't explain my self is that you are using that vintage tube phono/SUT and you have too the Nova unit. Those RCA input/output connectors on the tube unit are not good enough but not god those additional input/output connectors, cabls and solder joint for that SUT and all those only degrades the cartridge signal quality level.
The cartridge overall quality perfomance directly depends in a critical way to the quality level of the phono stage and tonearm including the tonearm internal wiring and always will be better a phono stage active high gain that an external SUT no matter wahat ( everything the same. ).
Do you want something neutral? then you have to put at minimum everykind of system link distortions/colorations in your room/system chain. My take is that maybe when you have the new cartridge need to think a little in what I'm saying here in favor of you and your room/system whole quality performance levels.
R.
R.
