MM Cartridge to MC Cartridge

@mijostyn : I disagree that one must spend thousands for a good sounding mc cartridge! The venerable DL103 wouldn't have held its esteemed status among audiophiles if it didn't sound good! Of course the higher-priced Denon MC's offer a more refined sound! 

The OP can consider the Grado moving-iron cartridges. The new Prestige series starting at $79 and up is worth checking out!

To do better with an MC cartridge you would have to spend $3000 plus

My $600 Denon 103 modified by soundsmith will give most $3000 carts a run for their money. It equaled a Van Den Hul cart in every way.

I stopped looking once I  bought it

Regards, Steve

Another thing to consider is the arm.

I have an Audiomods series three. It improved the performance of my Denon  103 greatly. It has a one piece silver harness with low mass KLE Innovations RCA plugs.

So its not ALL about the cartridge.

Regards Steve

@jasonbourne71 , @williewonka 

Grado can make a great cartridge, I do not think they enter their own until they get away from elliptical styluses.

I owned a 103 and like the Linn LP 12 everyone wants to make mods to them because they are all over the place and dirt cheap. In its day it was a good cartridge. Today it is just a platform for everyone to screw around with. If you can not pick up the difference between any modded 103 and say an Ortofon Verismo either your system, your ears or both need work. The first thing you will notice is the Verismo will be MUCH quieter due to its stylus profile, then sharper transient response due to its diamond cantilever.

The Ortofon 2M Black LVB version is superior to any Grado at or below it's price point. There is no, let me repeat, no $1000 MC cartridge that can compete with a 2M Black LVB cartridge.