[Lkdog]

As the title says I have a modded Technics SL 1200 turntable (KAB dampener mod and KAB tonearm wire upgrade) and a recently installed Ortofon Super OM 30 cartridge.
The Ortofon uses the The KAB/Ortofon Hi Fi Concorde housing so no headshell which is supposed to make alignment easier.

It sounds very good to me overall and a couple LPs I have sound comparable to good hi rez digital, but I am a Vinyl newbie to be honest. 

I use the MM phono stage in my VAC preamp.

My question is what MM or MI or High output MC cartridges would be a significant step up?

I am mostly a hi res digital streaming guy, but I grew up on vinyl in the 70's and the few nice pressings I have do sound pretty good.

Am just curious where this setup is in the food chain and what is next step up?
Does one have to spend a lot more money to do better than this fairly modest setup?

I guess I don't know how good higher end vinyl setups can actually get. My digital front end and preamp/amp/speaker system is very good.
(Well, I did hear Steve Deckerts (Decware) vinyl system setup in his heavily treated listening room a few years ago and that was ridiculously good).

Was looking at some used Soundsmith MI cartridges for example which are not too crazy in price used.
 

Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks. 

[bkatbamna]

That set up is as good as almost anything out there.  The biggest upgrade that you can make IMO is to get an ultrasonic record cleaner.  You will be amazed at how good even bargain bin LPs sound after a couple of cycles of cleaning.  The cleaners are available for around $200.
The Ortofon OM 30 is one of the best MM cartridges available.  Honestly not sure if going to MC will be a big difference but it could depending on the cartridge. 

[Lkdog]

That set up is as good as almost anything out there.  The biggest upgrade that you can make IMO is to get an ultrasonic record cleaner.  You will be amazed at how good even bargain bin LPs sound after a couple of cycles of cleaning.  The cleaners are available for around $200.
The Ortofon OM 30 is one of the best MM cartridges available.  Honestly not sure if going to MC will be a big difference but it could depending on the cartridge.

Thanks for the input and the advice.

[VinceT]

They are good TT especially with the KAB mods

I ran mine with denon MM carts for a while. I since moved on but still have the turntable in the closet as a backup. You could get more out of it by upgrading a cartridge. I never had a MI cart, just MC. I don't think I would go back to MM.