To answer your question of how much you will need to spend, less than $100.00 will better your Micro Acoustics cartridge by a wide margin and will get you a cartridge that is well matched to your current turntable. I think that the V15Vmr is overkill, but Shure makes a nice catridge for $70.00 or so with many of the attributes of the V15. It is the M97. I agree with Sean that it may be a bit rich for your tastes. The OM20 Super that he recommends can be ordered from Audiogon member 2juki for $90.00 inclusive of shipping and the Audio Technica AT440ML can be had from various sources for under $100.00 You should get great enjoyment from your old rig with a new cartridge and most importantly, protect your records, but no need to put Pirellis on that VW. As Rcreations suggests, once hooked, you will want to invest in a new rig, though I think that something like a Rega P3 or P25 will be more consonant with your listening biases.