Cartridge for VPI Scoutmaster and Bottlehead gear.

Vinyladdict: Does this mean I should upgrade my phono stage? I was thinking of building the Eros Bottlehead preamp in the future, but might do it sooner than later if necessary.

Reading the forums and reviews elsewhere, there seems to be a consensus of the Dynavector 20 and Sumiko Blackbird as the best for my VPI table. In general, I prefer a more warm sounding setup. Which of the two are warmer?

I want to limit my cartridge budget to around $500 at this time and am willing to buy used, though I am willing to go a little higher if cost is justified in sound.

The Shure and my Seduction are a sweet combo. A tad warm but full even range of tonality. The Seduction with my Grado Gold was nice, great for blues but with classical it was too much mid range and too warm.

A higher end grado may work for your JMW. Doesnt VPI sell a version?

I love the Seduction and don't think you need to upgrade it. The Eros is MM only too.

If you really want to go the Low Output Moving Coil route, then I would suggest getting a step-up-transformer (SUT). The SUT will allow you run MC carts through the Seduction without problem.

The Dynavector 20 is a fantastic cartridge, I didn't care too much for the Blackbird, myself. The high output DV-20H **MAY** give you enough output to run through the Seduction, but it's only 2mv if I remember correctly and that's going to be pushing it with the Seduction.

The more I've thought about it, if it were me, with your musical tastes, I'd do one of the following:

MM:
Shure V15VMR + Jico SAS (~$300)
Jico SAS-MM1 (~$240 and FANTASTIC!)
Ortofon 2M Black (used ~$400)

Or, add a tad to your budget and get a Bob's Cinemag SUT (~$400 new/$275 used) and a Dynavector 20XL (~$300 used).

I use the Ortofon 2M Blue on one of my tables and it is a terrific cartridge,warmer than the Black or the Bronze.

I got a scoutmaster with a Pro-ject TubeBox SE II, my soundsmith retipped Grace Ruby sounds wonderful in my setup.