This is going to be an interesting thread as it goes on!
I really only have one late model cartridge (Shure M97xE) to use as a comparison to my vintage cartridges which far outperform it. I am not saying I don't like my M97xe, in fact I rather enjoy it on occasion; I used it last night for a couple of hours and was thinking to myself "this sounds pretty damn good", its got a balanced sound, there's plenty of bottom end, mid's and high's. It's a solid performer that lets you enjoy the music at times at very high levels and not shred your hearing.
But now to the point of my favorite cartridge which is very vintage; my favorite of all is my Empire 2008 ( a clone of the 2000Z/ 2000T/ 2000S). This a classic that just gets everything right, very balanced in all respects equal amounts of bass, mid's and high's. And that's why it spends the most time on my turntable!
Other vintage cartridges in order of preference:
2) Stanton 881S w/Jico PC3000 (VoM 4608-DEV) Pickering stylus, Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE, 4825-DEZ.
3) Sonus Gold/Blue with Sonus White P stylus
4) Shure V15-TypeIV w/ Shure VN45HE and EVG 772-DE
5) Empire 4000D/I with aftermarket Shibata's
6) Shure M97xE stock stylus (I want to try a Vividline!)
7) Audio Technica AT15XE with Pfanstiehl *679-DE, and 4679-DE
8) Technics EPC-25U with EVG Elliptical
9) Ortofon OM-10
I like them all! It was tough to put them in an order of preference, the bottom order moves around some.