Stanton 981s was my first MM, which I think fits this topic. '90s era.
I had bought a step up transformer to help with existing gear and, except for needing to go farther with the gain, it sounded amazing. Though a bit soft with gain in my ability to integrate it properly into an SAE Preamp of those days, I always wanted a full on MM pre to match it to.
Still have it and it needs a stylus replacement, but even the early efforts, MM seemed like the way to go at the time. A stylus was difficult to find at times.
Kind of hoping to try a more modern version at some point.
Keeping an eye on this thread.