hi musikdok,
i recently replaced my sumiko premiere ft-3 tonearm w/something a bit more modern, but a steal at the price, imho - an origin-live modified rega rb-250 this mod replaces the internal wiring, and also does structural mods. there is also an external-wiring mod, but i opted for the 5-pin din connection, to be able to use my straight-wire tonearm cable. i also got the o-l adjustable-vta base. i bought everything gnu - as a cheapskate who usually buys used, i felt this was a bargain even brand-gnu! :>) o-l sez the modded rb-250 even beats out their modded rb900, due to differing bearing-mounting schemes, which allows the least-expensive rega arm to sound the best w/the strutural mods.
re: cartridges, i'm currently using an ortofon mc-25fl, which i think is an excellent-sounding budget cartridge. i have a lyra clavis that has been rebuilt by vandenhul, but it's yet to be mounted - i wanted to digest the other changes to my 'table, prior to mounting this cartridge. (i also got the origin-live dc motor/power-supply upgrade at the same time as i got the gnu tonearm. as this was designed w/the lp-12 in mind, ewe mite wanna check it out.)
http://www.originlive.com/index.htm
http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/ (where i got the o-l stuff)
regards, doug