Synergy

@rvpiano I can second tomic601's Benz Wood recommendation. Never bright or edgy, and never boring. Just nicely balanced and a bit sweet :) 

I started out in analog (years ago now) with a Benz Glider L2, and it kept the upgrade-itis at bay for two full years! In retrospect, it was a great 1st choice for me. Glider is very close to Wood, the latter is just a tad sweeter. Any of the Wood versions - L2, M2, SL, SM will do nicely (M is medium output, L is low output, S is the most recent version, 2 is the older version). 

RV, I think you should move up the Clearaudio line to the Maestro V2. It has a much better cantilever and stylus. It should be more detailed. The Charisma is really what you want. I had one which I gave to a friend and he loves it. He also had a problem with brightness and the Charisma with it's aggressive bass cleared that right up. It is one of the most dynamic cartridges I have ever heard and beautifully made and presented. It rivals moving coil cartridges in the 4-5000 dollar range. Next up would be the Soundsmith Voice which I can not say enough good things about. Mine is now driving a pair of Magico S7s. I gave it to that friend for his 70th birthday and he LOVES it.  I liked it so much that I bought a Hyperion MR, a $10K cartridge which I should have shortly.

@mulveling 

I am hoping that with its 0.6 ohm impedance the Ultra will mate well with my current mode phono stage. It is 1/2 the impedance of the Signature Platinum. MSL cartridges are extremely well made and the styluses are 1st class. But, it may not be what I am looking for. I can get an extremely good price on one which is another factor.  The VDH will work fine in my arm. I would do the Crimson which is reported to have more aggressive bass and punch with two poles. The Clearaudio Titanium is another cartridge I would like to try. 

@mulveling I too have options on owned Phonostage and SUT's.

I can also loan SUT's, Head Amp's and a few other Phon's especially SS to have the non Valve experience. 

Having the options, has for myself been very satisfying, especially when certain permutations have been Jaw Droppingly Good with some favoured Albums. 

Without such options, discoveries will be lesser in the making. 

I would do the Crimson which is reported to have more aggressive bass and punch with two poles. The Clearaudio Titanium is another cartridge I would like to try. 

@mijostyn  That was my thought on the two going in, before hearing them. I liked the traditional 2-pole architecture of Crimson, and the extra output. My Crimson is 0.75 and Colibri is 0.38. 

As it turns out, the Colibri is punchier than expected, with awesome macro-dynamics, and I wouldn't consider that a critical advantage to Crimson. That said, the Crimson is much easier to setup and start enjoying. There's still a touch of sibilance on this Colibri - not sure when that goes away on its own (when fully broken in) or I need to keep tweaking. Sibilance isn't a hot trigger for me and it's not too bad now anyways (was awful earlier in break in). No sibilance issues with Crimson. 

The Crimson is a little smoother and warmer overall. Still not "warm". Midrange isn't "fat" like some Japanese carts, nor dry like some Ortofons. Definitely a great choice IMO. Colibri a little faster and more detailed. 

The matching is different due to the output levels. So far I like Crimson best into my EAR MC-4 SUT, and Colibri best right into the JFET MC stage of Hagerman Trumpet Reference (~ 180 ohms load). The Crimson's output level is somewhat deceiving; it's not as high as I expected for 0.75mV. The AirTight PC-7 rated at 0.6mV is louder in practice. I think Shelters at 0.5mV are a tad louder too. The Crimson is more like what I'd expect for 0.45 - 0.5mV. Colibri's 0.38 isn't far off from what I expected there. Crimson is louder, but certainly not by 6dB.