Of the carts that are being mentioned I own three of them: the Lyra Delos, The ART-9, and the Soundsmith MIMIC Star. Personally I like the Delos the best, it has slightly more weight and better punch than the others, it also sounds more like real music to me. The ART-9 comes in 2nd, and sounds 90% of the Delos, just not as dynamic and maybe a little less detail, I mean a little. Finally the MIMIC Star is a good sounding cart but next to the other two it sounds a bit tame, soft and no where near as dynamic as the others. The MIMIC Star is OK, but for the price I was slightly disappointed in how it sounds. YMMV
Highest detail cartridges
Which cartridges give the greatest amount of detail? Imaging, soundstage file detail. These are qualities to consider. I know Lyra cartridges are high on that list. What others equal or better Lyras. Is there anything below, say $1500, that is in that same category? Detail with reasonably flat frequency response.