Sounds to me like the VTA is pretty far off on that table you have, but maybe there are other things going on that I don't know about.
Anyway, there are a variety of tables, arms, and cartridges out there, and it can be confusing.
I'd recommend reading some of the analog archives in your spare time to bone up on the particulars of analog, and read some reviews and threads on some of the items you may be considering. Study will take you a long way to making a good decision.
Making correct matching decisions is a big part of getting your analog system right. The stuff has to work well together. You can't just plug any cartridge on any arm and put it on any turntable and expect great results. However, as most analog gear in the higher end market is quite good, you'll have a good chance of getting it pretty close to right if you pay even the least bit of attention to matching.
For a newbie, I think that staying in the medium range of cartridge compliance(15cu) and medium mass arm(~10-11grams) will get you into the ballpark without too much room for error. Stay out of the low compliance stuff until you have enough knowledge and experience to make some educated choices there. Or, if you want to go there, then use some of the information in the archives to find out what cartridges and tonearms are used together commonly and are popular with good comments. That could help. Also, you could do the same things with turntables and arms. Some arms are more suitable for certain turntables than others are. The archives will be good for this too.
Another thing you'll have to deal with is cartridge output vs phono stage gain, to get that matchup right. One way is to get a very flexible phono stage with many gain settings, and just try some of them to see which gain works best with your cartrige in your system. Use the cartridge loading that the manufacturer specifies, or consult the archives.
You'll need some setup tools, and you can buy a mirrored protractor for about $20 and a stylus force scale for about $20 from http://www.turntablebasics.com. These are acceptable quality and inexpensive.
Make sure that your tonearm either has a VTA adjustment, or you can get an "add-on" accessory VTA adjuster. This is important. If you can't get the VTA right, your rig won't sound good. There are so many different tonearms and cartridges on the market, that there can be no "one size fits all" VTA setting for a tonearm. You have to adjust the VTA for the cartridge that you are using, and that's all there is to it. Make sure you can do VTA adjustment with the arm, with either the factory adjustment, or by adding an aftermarket adjuster.
I have a Teres turntable, but there are plenty of other good turntables out there too.
You can post some particular questions on the forum that relate to some decisions you are making, and the crew will give you some guidance. Often there is no consensus on a particular issue, so the final decision is yours.
Anyway, there are a variety of tables, arms, and cartridges out there, and it can be confusing.
I'd recommend reading some of the analog archives in your spare time to bone up on the particulars of analog, and read some reviews and threads on some of the items you may be considering. Study will take you a long way to making a good decision.
Making correct matching decisions is a big part of getting your analog system right. The stuff has to work well together. You can't just plug any cartridge on any arm and put it on any turntable and expect great results. However, as most analog gear in the higher end market is quite good, you'll have a good chance of getting it pretty close to right if you pay even the least bit of attention to matching.
For a newbie, I think that staying in the medium range of cartridge compliance(15cu) and medium mass arm(~10-11grams) will get you into the ballpark without too much room for error. Stay out of the low compliance stuff until you have enough knowledge and experience to make some educated choices there. Or, if you want to go there, then use some of the information in the archives to find out what cartridges and tonearms are used together commonly and are popular with good comments. That could help. Also, you could do the same things with turntables and arms. Some arms are more suitable for certain turntables than others are. The archives will be good for this too.
Another thing you'll have to deal with is cartridge output vs phono stage gain, to get that matchup right. One way is to get a very flexible phono stage with many gain settings, and just try some of them to see which gain works best with your cartrige in your system. Use the cartridge loading that the manufacturer specifies, or consult the archives.
You'll need some setup tools, and you can buy a mirrored protractor for about $20 and a stylus force scale for about $20 from http://www.turntablebasics.com. These are acceptable quality and inexpensive.
Make sure that your tonearm either has a VTA adjustment, or you can get an "add-on" accessory VTA adjuster. This is important. If you can't get the VTA right, your rig won't sound good. There are so many different tonearms and cartridges on the market, that there can be no "one size fits all" VTA setting for a tonearm. You have to adjust the VTA for the cartridge that you are using, and that's all there is to it. Make sure you can do VTA adjustment with the arm, with either the factory adjustment, or by adding an aftermarket adjuster.
I have a Teres turntable, but there are plenty of other good turntables out there too.
You can post some particular questions on the forum that relate to some decisions you are making, and the crew will give you some guidance. Often there is no consensus on a particular issue, so the final decision is yours.