is there any other brand worth looking in to ?
@ssg308 sorry, I didn't see your question until now. But yes, there are lots of other good cartridges and brands, but it's more of a known quantity to move up an Ortofon model line given you like the 2M Black.
But the real answer is the fact that in my case changing just cartridge makes little or non noticeable improvement, I need new cartridge and new phono stage....
I'm not really sure that was what came across in the thread.
Invariably people start talking about what they like best and how you could upgrade all sorts of things to improve your sound or to bring out the best in all your gear, but I really do think upgrading your cartridge and keeping all your other existing equipment can still give you a noticeable improvement.