I'll second the notation that the Basik LV-X tonearm shouldn't really be a good match with the OC-9 or AT-33, but I did use an Ortofon MC-10 Super with my Axis/Basik Plus to good success before trading it off for a Sondek...
I have a few Grados, the Red, the Gold, a G1, and older Signature series with a Red stylus, and while they all seem to be very pleasing cartridges, I do feel like they are challenged a bit when it comes to other cartridges...
FWIW, I used a Red for months and really liked it on my Sondek/IttokLVII until I reinstalled a Denon DL-103S with a Signet transformer in it's place...that really showed up the limitations of the Grado...it's just not very transparent, and compared to the Denon and transformer, not nearly as dynamic...I won't mention how the Red compares to my Benz H2O.....
One of the albums that I have been using for a test LP since it first came out is Sade's "Diamond Life". On side two, cut one "Cherry Pie", when the snare drums kick in, the Grados all seem to just lose the detail of the snares against the bottom drum head, it just sounds kind of mushy, indistinct, and buried down in the mix, the attack is not in the same league as other cartridges...I found this effect on four different turntables with four different arms all using the same Grado carts....then again, that album can be quite bright at times, but it does allow me to ascertain certain things that will apply across the board in other albums, audiophile or not....and is quite often just a tool for my testing that highlights certain things that may not be so obvious elsewhere.
I have a LOT of cartridges that I recently obtained when I bought the estate of a fellow that used to do electronics repair here....Lately, I have been playing with a Micro Seki BL-51 with an Audio Technica ATP-12 arm that has a removable headshell...this allows me to change cartridges in a jiffy...
I first noticed this glossing over of the sound with the Red on the Ittok, but have confirmed it with this new round of messing with cartridges...I do have several new favorites, (one of 'em is a Shure M3D with a brand new M7 stylus, another is an old Bakelite bodied Pioneer, and Pioneer and Audio Technica moving coil cartridges that have removable stylus assemblies! The new styli on all those old cartridges are one of the side benefits of buying all I could from that estate...) but, for me at least, the plastic bodied Grados just don't float my boat anymore...I wish that they did as I can get brand new ones dirt cheap...oh well...
I even made and tried one of the Frank VanAlstine "Longhorn" mods for the Grado...
I use a Dennesen Sound Tracktor to set up all the cartridges as taught to me by my Linn mentor with way over 20 years of experience with Linn, schooled by them, etc....
I think that with the level of that arm that as stated before, an ML150 or an AT440Mla would be a fine match....and the 440 is available all over the place for less than a new Grado Red...it would give you a chance to see if the Audio Technica sound is the way you want to go....and AT MM's usually match quite well with the Basik arm...a better external phono lead than the one supplied by Linn will also bring you a lot farther down the road...it made a difference on my Axis, it makes a difference on my Sondek...
You might also possibly go beyond what your system can deliver with one of the more exotic cartridges....i.e., they may be capable of delivering more than your current setup can deliver...I know you have the Bellari, and I have listened to one extensively in my system, and I found I didn't really care for it compared to my Audible Illusions Modulus 3A (I plugged the Bellari into the aux position of the Audible so it became my phono stage and went thru the linestage, a real even comparison of the VP129 as a phono stage vs. the built in AI one) for $200 it's a pretty good deal, but......
If you have no plans to make a higher-res system, upgrade arm, new and better phono/line stage, etc., then the extra money of the more expensive cartridges may just be unwarranted.
Besides, I'd put the money towards finding a better Linn arm than the Basik...even the Akito sounds better...
I've been playing with stereo gear for over forty years and have found that system matching is a very curious thing, but once you get a handle on it it gets to be quite rewarding, and can save you money...don't spend more if it ain't gonna get you any farther!
As always, YMMV...and I could very well be full of it!
