Warm sounding phono cartridge

my well cared for and well recorded LP's sound excellent many of my albums now sound thin to me and noisy. Clicks and pops have been exacerbated to the point that I do not want to play some records even after a run through my Degritter ultrasonic.

Two possible problems can cause this. Your phono preamp isn't dealing well with the noise and needs upgrading. Or your well cared for albumin have groove damage due to previous play with worn stylus.

You may consider a Benz Micro cartridge if it's the cartridge fault. But I don't think it's your cartridge at fault.

From what you have said, I'd  have the cartridge itself checked. I once bought a brand new cartridge that just didn't sound right. It was sent back to the mfg and checked. It was bad. They sent me a  new cartridge. New items can and do come out of the plant that are defective.