u/Dysl3xik

I have been wanting to upgrade the cartridge for my TT for some time now. I picked up a 1700 MKII about a year ago now. I had started with an AT 120XBTUSB and when I got this new table I simply transplanted the AT VM95E (headshell and all) over to this unit.

Since the original cart + stylus is about 1.5 years old, I think the stylus is getting near its lifetime and I wanted to make an upgrade. Also I know I can simply replace the stylus, but I wanted to get a second cart up and going so I can put the AT table back into service too with the new stylus. I am torn between getting the following and wanted to advice on which would be best for the technics:

• AT-VM95ML the ML equivalent to what I got now. I figure this should work fine since the elliptical has worked well.
• AT-VM540ML the upgraded ML.
• AT-VM740ML the fancy 540.

I would like to go ahead and do the 740, but I was doing some research and apparently the "compliance" might be too high for the weight of this tonearm? I think I read somewhere that the compliance on the 540 may be better for this unit even though the 740 has some minor quality improvements over the 740.

I can't find any simple explanations on compliance and if the 740 can be made compatible with my TT. I have learned that there is a small weight that can be added to the head shell that can help maybe? I actually have this weight from the original TT packaging, along with an original aluminum (I think) technics head shell that I can use for this upgrade.

Anyways, any guidance and learnings would be appreciated here.