Moving from MM to MC

Let's not forget that the OP is dealing with a tonearm that is a medium to high mass arm, and he has an under $300 budget.  In that regard, the 103D is an excellent fit.  If he can stretch his budget a bit, a better expenditure IMO would be a slightly better pre-preamplifier.

Let's not forget that the OP is dealing with a tonearm that is a medium to high mass arm, and he has an under $300 budget. In that regard, the 103D is an excellent fit. If he can stretch his budget a bit, a better expenditure IMO would be a slightly better pre-preamplifier.

Yeah, been think about better preamps, as well. For $130 bucks, I've heard that the schitt mani may be a good bang for the buck, surely it's better than the TCC.

The Denon DL103 along with the 103r are outstanding devices and perform well above there current cost.   The DL-103, given the cost is a great way to explore MC on the cheap. 

The Denon DL103 along with the 103r are outstanding devices and perform well above there current cost.   The DL-103, given the cost is a great way to explore MC on the cheap.

Thanks for the support of dabbling in MC. I will definitely try it one day, (when funds permit) but at this point I have been persuaded to do an upgrade to a better MM cartridge. 
Right now it's neck and neck between a Nagaoka MP-150 or a JICO S.A.S replacement stylus for the Shure m97xE. This one supposedly has a unique tip that "reaches deeper into the groove" to pull out more groove info and be better in the higher frequencies, also sports a boron cantilever, which I am told is better than aluminum. The Jico SAS would be about 100 bucks less than the Nagaoka, so I might go this way first, but if anyone has any opinions between these, two, I would be happy to hear them. (also, opinions on the Schiit Mani, as well)
 

The SAS/ M97xe combo is a giant killer IMO, at least up to around the $1K mark. The caveat is that it requires precise alignment and setup to hear everything it has to offer (especially VTA and VTF). It also takes a good 50 hours of break-in before it really shines. It won't sacrifice much of the Shure's warmth but will produce gobs more detail and separation - simply in a whole different league. I'm convinced it's the best value to be found in analog. Boron cantilevers are traditionally reserved for $2K^ carts!