Could it be that the suspension on your cartridge has given up the ghost and collapsed, and (at the worst) you're just dragging along on the cartridge body?
Sudden problem with turntable
I have a rega p5 with a ortofon black. it used to sound great. yesterday i put on a record and it sounded terrible, really muddy. My knowledge of turntables is very limited. Is it possible that i damaged the stylus? Any suggestions as to how i would determine what happened?