Dom will need to come in as well, as he's working intimately with styli now...
Elliptical is one of the better profiles IF it's done right. Shure's Hyper Elliptical (HE) styli were from memory "proper" elliptical profiles less compromised than their earlier types, which were rather variable I remember and not always well aligned (the M75-ED could be awful here, with mis-aligned cantilevers and all sorts..)
A "naked diamond" means a tiny diamond chip inserted into or brazed onto the cantilever, giving lower mass than a diamond chip brazed onto a piece of metal or other stone, this then mounted on the cantilever. This was the main difference between the ADC VLM and XLM for example, or the Shure M75E and M75-ED, this latter seemingly based on the V15 II once the Mk III had come out.
Many attempts have come and gone to improve the profile of the stylus tip. Shibata were one of the first, and they had several variants over the decades, as some played the groove bottom too much (unbearable on worn or noisy records). Loads of other types have come along since and I suspect that many of them share some characteristics (HELP PLEASE DOM 
). Giger, Stereohedron, VDH, "Microscanner," AT's ML type and SAS all try to improve end-of-side tracing and tracking, improving the treble performance especially, the downside being critical setup and possible problems with dirty discs. One good thing about these is that records played on groove-grinders of the 50's and 60's can SOMETIMES be given a new lease of life, as these special tip profiles trace different and less worn parts of the groove.
Getting the profile right is vital, even with conical tips and a decent standard of grind and polish pays dividends with this type too, witness the much loved Denon 103 on the one hand and Stanton's 500V3 on the other, this latter promoted with extra careful polishing (mine's not bad at all).
Hope I'm not a jumbled mess with the above.....
Re the SME headshell. If you investigate the SAS Shure approach (I don't know how much Dom or EsCo would charge to fit a new decent diamond on an existing Shure assembly (their suspensions seem to last well), some of SME's headshell gunge (blac-tac I believe) will damp the shell and ensure greater contact. Not such an issue with later Shures (era IV onwards) as the contact area is tiny in the first place. I've said this many times, but the difference in placing a small square of card-table green baize betwixt V15 III and SME shell was quite marked and preferable sonically as well, so should make for a very cheap and easily reversible option.
Regarding cartridge screws. From habit, if at all possible, I use 2.5mm hex-head Allen screws and nuts. For a high compliance cartridge with a usually soft plastic body, these can be lethal if over-tightened, but I must admit to liking an SME shell with bolt-head on top and nuts underneath nipped up gently to hold the cartridge firmly but without crushing the mounting lugs on the cartridge. Common sense prevails here of course - and a sensitive touch, which I for one lacked in my Linn days - cough - .......
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