Best Cartridge for VPI Aries orig + JMW 10.5 ?


I have a VPI Aries (original version) and JMW 10.5. They feed an EAR 834p phono stage, mccormack map-1 preamp, rotel 1095 amp, and vienna acoustics beethoven speakers (which are a bit "warm" sounding). I listen to mostly bluegrass, followed by classic rock and jazz. What is the best choice of cartridge at $1500 or less? (any views on the Sumiko Celebration in this set up?) Any thoughts welcomed as I am a bit new at this. (ps. will one day move to all tubes, but likely a few years off).
banjofan
to cmk...when you say "warm balanced" vs. "detail retrieval" which attribute belongs to which cartridge?
(btw, my speakers (viennal accoustics) are already a bit warm since they have silk domed tweeters, so i feel a bit cautious about overdoing the "warmth" side of things.
Banjofan,
With a good phono stage, the differences between these carts are just personal preferences and are not marked differences.

Having said that, you can tune the cart to match your system's balance using VTA, tracking force, azimuth and anti-skate, so choosing either one of these carts will work.

To answer your question, I'd reckon the Helikon as being in the leaner balanced, while the Celebration as being fuller.

BTW I would tend to associate warm with more bass, rather than the tweeter's silk dome per se.

Happy spinning!
Banjofan, I also have Vienna Acoustics speakers (Strauss). I can't claim to have heard the Celebration, so I cannot directly compare. I have compared my current favorite, the Helikon, to the Benz Ruby 2 and the Cardas Heart. The Helikon provides more detail, while not being over-analytical. The Benz and the Cardas were a tad bit warm for my VA speakers. I also have a VPI table with JMW 10.5 arm. Try doing a search on the Celebration here and at AA. There isn't much information out there on it, I don't know why. FWIW, I don't think you can go wrong with the Helikon.

Regards,
John
Get the Helikon
Thanks again TWL for your candid and informative post on this subject once again.
The next question is, TWL what combo is better the silver/shelter 501 or
The JMW 10.5/Helikon
Thanks