Hello Everyone.

I am new to this message board. I am what I guess is considered a "lurker", so I have obtained tons of useful info from message boards in the past, but this is my first post. My post is prompted by information overload.

I am fairly new to vinyl, but I am also mildly obsessed with it. I have a Music Hall MMF 2.1 which I love, and thus far has needed no improvement or maintenance, but I recently acquired a second TT, a Technics SL-D3. The Technics is a craigslist score. It's in fine condition and sounds pretty good as is, but has a needle in need of replacement (from what I can tell).

Once I started researching the installed cartridge, I realized that it is not the original. The cartridge on the table is an Audio-Technica AT964XEa. I have been unable to obtain much info on this cartridge. A new stylus (oem) is about 70 bucks, a generic is about 15 bones.

So to my question:

Is it worthwhile to replace the stylus on the original cartridge with an oem or aftermarket replacement vs purchasing a new budget phono cartridge? I have narrowed my new choices down to the Shure M97XE and the Audio Technica AT95E.

Whew. Any insight would be appreciated - at the rate I am going it will take me a year to make a decision......