amazing transformation...how?

Once in a while a Static is present in my listening environment, that really does not lend itself to creating a pleasant experience when replaying Vinyl. 

I have successfully treated it for a short duration, maybe Two Albums, but it speedily shows once more. 

I use CD and return to Vinyl at a later date. 

The Styli lasts a little longer and the CD sings so a Win Win. 

Is there a possibility Static could be the cause of your own dissatisfaction?, creating the situation where CD as a Source was much more attractive in use. 

Thanks for your thoughts

It's possible that static could have been a factor. But if it was, I did nothing to change/treat static. And I could imagine static negatively affecting sound quality in certain ways but I can't see how the absence would result in such a positive transformation. 

The musical experience went from unbearable to enthralling.

@cubsipod it seems all things being equal/same that you hated the sound before but loved it afterwards - hard to define with limited objective info leading to your subjective experience.  Enjoy your system

Perhaps it was a poor recording. Without knowing what was listened to there is no way to revisit it and confirm what you heard. If you can find any of those original albums give them a spin and see how things sorted out. 

The Dynavector HOMC's are known to be "hot" sounding. I know because I had the 20B in 1977. Looks good on paper but a steely top end. I soon sold it to a friend along with my Empire 698 TT. He liked it, used it for awhile then broke the cantilever. Now I have a secondhand 20A awaiting set up. I hope it will sound smoother than my memories of the 20B. The difference being an aluminum cantilever vs. beryllium - which has been banned because of toxicity.

You may just not have been in a receptive mood the first time! Listening to music can be compared to sex. Things don't always go as planned - until next time!

Hi

Could this be a " mind set' situation?

On your initial listening session you were excited and expecting great things only to be underwhelmed and dissapointed. 

When returning a few months later you were expecting to dissapointed and had set yourself very low expectations only to find the sound not as bad as you remembered.

Our mind and memory can play tricks on us.

Mark

Hello! According to you, the sound was so terrible that it is unlikely that the player itself could have had such an effect. The cartridge may be special if it was in unsatisfactory condition. But if you haven’t touched it all this time, then it’s unlikely to get any better. You didn't mention which phono stage you connected it to or which amplifier. Think, could something have changed in them? Did something happen, for example, to the power supply in the apartment over the past year and a half? How warm was each component including cables? And were there any changes in the room itself that could affect the reflections? Most likely you would have noticed this on the CD, but what if? This is some kind of miracle.

Oh, and you can also assume that everything seemed so high and sharp compared to your previous cartridge and turnable. And after a year and a half, that sound was already forgotten and you looked at the new system with an unbiased eye.

And two more versions. 1. You said that exactly a year and a half has passed, not a year. This means that it was a different season of the year. This means the air humidity could change greatly. Humidity affects the static on records, as well as the speed of sound waves. Many audiophiles notice a strong difference in sound depending on humidity and correct this with humidifiers, since the problem is dry air. 2. Physiological changes. Hearing can be affected by blood pressure. Your hearing can also deteriorate if, for example, you work in a noisy manufacture or listen to music loudly on headphones.

Sorry for the tirade.

This one is simple. After listening exclusively to CD's for a year and a half, almost anything will sound good.

My VPI Scout was real particular about the cart.  I never fell in love with it because it was soooo fussy.  Even the record clamp seemed to suck the life out of the music.  And I never found a cart that  I loved with it. So it's gone, life is too short.

I've been considering a VPI Scout Turn Table for a while. Now that you're using it, what's your impression? 

Believe it or not, the mood you are in has a lot to do with the listening experience. Could be something as simple as that.

@neonknight 

I tried many different vinyl music choices (and I take very good care of my music collection) before finally giving up and being "angry" at the cartridge. At least that was where my ire was placed at the time. Now nearly all of my collection sounds great! At the very least listenable and enjoyable.

Is there any possible way a cartridge would "break-in" while sitting unused for a year?

Is it possible that you had it plugged into a non RIAA corrected input? Meaning, and input without the phono preamp in it?  That would make it sound as you described no matter what record you played.  Anyway, glad you have things sounding better now.

You said: “Nothing else changed in my system.” How about you? Have you changed? A year and a half can be a long time depending on your age. Do the CDs still sound the same? Food for thoughts.