I’ll let you know 
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Currently using a DV XX2 Mk2 I’ve had for over 10 years. It’s a very solid performer. Really good value, may be just above OP’s budget.
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Hana is a good bang.for.your.buck cartridge.
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Love my AT-OC9XSL. It’s gotta be one of if not the best carts I’ve owned, and I’ve owned many over the years, some costing upwards of $2k.
Very low noise, great detail retrieval, wide and deep sound stage, a silky top end, punchy and tight bottom end, open and natural midrange. It ticks all the boxes.
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A solid recommendation.
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I bought the AT-OC9XSL a few weeks ago. I’m still adjusting it, but so far I’m very happy with it. I like that it has features that cost more with some of the other brands, such as a the boron cantilever.
Good luck.
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Since no one mentioned it so far, I’d say Goldring Ethos.
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Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC Star.
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You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you, @akro? The answer is, basically every cart ever made between $1-2K. 
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forgot…what turntable and arm is this?
and no consensus!
tomorrow reserved to revisit/activate my TT setup; assuming that my existing Shelter MkII is ok (probably less than 100 hours in 20 years)
At that age the suspension may have dried out, depending on how Shelter does/did their suspension. I’d recommend after setup trying a record or two that you don’t mind using as guinea pigs.
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I wonder.
Seeing reference to the Shibata stylus, I wonder something.
During the mid 1980s, I often visited Japan for manufacturing of a consumer product I was contemplating to market. (of course, I also flew a couple aerobatic airplanes out of Honda Airport north of Tokyo, including providing a bit of an airshow and a lesson to the owner of the 2 planes; after a few meetings with the department of aviation to review my credentials, I was granted a Japanese pilot license, but I digress)
A Mr. Shibata (Shibata-san) hosted a wonderful dinner for me in a very exclusive private dining room serving Kobe beef, wow (but I digress). I met him in Danbury, Connecticut as well, including giving him a sightseeing excursion from a 6-seeter plane owned by Dictaphone’s executive; he was manufacturing a product for the US dictaphone company.
I wonder if he is the same Shibata-san who invented the Shibata stylus, patented in 1973.
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looks ok, including during re-setup of tonearm
not like the dilapidated suspension of my Koetsu
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The arm is a Reed 3P. Very popular model over the last 10+ years.
The turntable was made by a company in the UK called Claro Precision Engineering. They mainly fabricate for other people in a range of industries. It’s a very long story how they came to make a turntable under their own name, but it does a fine job.
I cleaned out the bearing assembly last weekend. What a difference that made. Another of those little jobs vinyl keeps you busy with.
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The $1k to $2k space is a good place to start. Usually significant improvements can be made from a $500 cart.
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Oh, I agree. I’ve got carts from the hundreds of dollars up to about 8 or 9K. I was just observing that this is the classic response to any audiophile “recommendation” question - if 12 audiophiles respond, there will be 16 different recommendations. 
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Sumiko Starling. Right in the middle of your price target. Good, healthy 0.5 mV output. Tracks like a champ. Neutral overall. Yes, I’ve used it with a SME 309 mounted on my SOTA Nova V vacuum. Pay attention to careful setup (especially VTA) and it will sing with your SME tonearm. Like all of Sumiko’s reference line cartridges.
Enjoy.
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These cartridges have a spacious and deep stage. I think the body design makes it a bit easier for setup and his thumb screws he designed help this too. Margins on cartridges are notoriously dealer rich so you can shop and get a great discount too.
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True, but anything that keeps the analog dialog flowing is good by me🙂
Always nice to hear about user experiences and recommendations that can benefit others who may be the market aside from the OP
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