Still looking for a new Moving Coil Cartridge

To place a fly into the ointment, consider this:

- Fine line contact styli have FAR greater surface contact area versus conical styli. When balanced for equal VTF, this means the fine line will be far less likely to cause groove damage. 
- A fine line contact stylus has a greater angle of attack on groove perturbations. This heightens the risk of groove damage vs conical styli but is heavily influenced by the deflection of the groove wall under the stylus. A record with higher quantities of plasticizers will deflect more and therefore be more at risk from damage from high angles of attack from the stylus. This issue has not been conclusively studied in the scientific literature, but we intend to do so starting with heavy use on lacquers.
 

My experience and my gut says that groove damage is primarily a function of tonearm horizontal forces being out of control and very secondarily by excessive VTF and dirty styli. At 33rpm and at innermost grooves only, conical styli *MIGHT* retain a small advantage but otherwise fine line styli are safer. Again, I cannot yet prove this due to lack of data on deflection/angle of attack.
 

Get your tonearm under control and you’ll have less to worry about (and sound better too!)

I agree with @lewm.

If the owner cannot set up a cartridge correctly, then they shouldn't try to set it up at all.  MicroLine, Shibata, Line Contact and similar stylus profiles are MUCH more desirable than spherical stylus.  Spherical stylus wear very fast and can do irreparable damage to records before their wear gets discovered.  That also results in a higher cost of maintenance since most MC carts require a full cartridge replacement when a stylus is shot.  

I hope my comment about using a spherical stylus because it’s safest for LPs was taken as facetious. That was the intent.

I'm very satisfied with my Umami Red.

I’ve owned a couple of Dynavectors in the distant past and have recently spent time with the 10X5 II. They IMO are nice but not special, if that makes sense.

Like the OP, I’ve got a Technics G that I dearly love. Mine is set up with a Funk Firm 5mm Achromat, the KAB arm damper and A/T Headshell wires on the factory headshell. Setup with a Vinyl Source Arc Protractor and a first generation Fozgometer. All records are ultrasonically cleaned.

Im currently running a low output Grado Reference3 wood body and couldn’t be happier. At $1500, it’s out of the OP’s comfort zone. Before I spent $1200 for another Dynavector, I’d seriously look at a Grado Master3 which comes in at $1K.

The Grado Timbre series comes in both high and low output- either 4.7 mV or 1 mV. Both load at 47k, but not every phono stage can run 50-55 dB gain at 47k loading. If yours can, the low output is the ticket. If not, you want high output.

The Grados can also be replaced or upgraded at roughly 33% off when worn or damaged which is pretty strong compared to the competition (except Soundsmith).

MI cartridges have lower moving mass than either MM or MC.

I listen to about 70% classic rock, 25% classical and 5% jazz and the Grado excels with all of them.

Tonight’s spins so far:

The Beatles- Abbey Road MoFi

Jethro Tull- Songs From The Wood 40th Anniversary 

On deck next:

David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust