Best way to upgrade from a MMF9

I'd also consider a Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm ($2500) + a suitable cartridge. I haven't heard one myself, nor a VPI for that matter, but my money would be on the Nott'. Many Scout/ScoutMaster owners have ended up adding expensive motor controllers or even replacing the motor before they were satisfied with the sound. That adds another $500-1000 to the cost. I've never heard of a Nott' owner needing or considering that.

Agree w/ Dougdeacon re. the Nott being a superior TT vs. the VPI. I have friend who owns a Spacedeck/Spacearm/Benz L2. I have heard his TT when he used to own the OL Silver 250 Mk1 w/ the Benz L2. Fantastic sound, which was considerably better than the MMF5 I had back then. Later this friend added a VPI SDS & found that it made no improvement on his Spacedeck so he promptly sold it!
My other friend has a (used) VPI Aries (original). He has had to add the Neuance shelf, dropped counterweight and VPI SDS to make the TT sing. I think that still more perf. can be squeezed out from the Aries. The original Aries retail price is pretty darn high & what a mediocre sounding TT it is in stock form! A total rip off & a shame for that price!
I'm sorry to say that I'm not a VPI fan. I think that releasing a TT & then immediately/shortly offering upgrades to it is a sign of bad design & not giving the product full thought for its initial design i.e. the product put out is not the best that VPI could design. I think that VPI should design a product that is the very best for that price point & only sunstantially later offer any mods if needed. There are imported TTs that cost less than an equivalent VPI + these imported TTs don't need upgrades to sound their best!!
BTW, my new Bluenote TT & my friend's used VPI Aries cost about the same when purchased resp. by us - $100 or $200 difference. Since then he has added all the above mentioned tweaks to the TT while I have done nothing similar. I still think that my Bluenote beats his VPI Aries!
I expressed *my* opinions. Take it FWIW. As always, YMMV.

Bombaywalla,
Thank you for posting your Nott'/SDS/VPI experiences. I got slammed on VA for expressing this view, despite the widespread evidence. Good to know someone has heard it firsthand.