Why does my vinyl sound so bright?

A wall shelf should never be mounted to a drywall panel using wall anchors. Such a mount won't hold the shelf and its load for much more time than it takes to say "Shouldn'ta done that."

A wall shelf should be mounted straight into the studs behind drywall. Those studs should not be standing on a plate that sits on the floor. The plate should transfer its load to the house foundation. In most houses that means putting the shelf on an exterior wall, not an interior partition.

If a wall shelf is not an option, a well-made floor rack has to be chosen to suit the needs of the turntable. Suspended turntables used to be said to need light racks and solid-base TT, heavy ones but floors and turntables vary. A wall shelf is really the best option.

Arthursmuck, there's great advice here. Turntable levelling, VTA, tracking force can all contribute to bright sound.

If the VTA is "tipped up" at the back (a high arm post) the highs may be emphasized at the expense of the bass. If the turntable is out of level, the force exerted on the stylus may change angle and give an effect similar to high VTA. Also a reduction in tracking force (if the arm counterweight shifts) will press the stylus down less into the groove and that can change the tracking angle.

If your sound is brighter but also clearer, less muddy and rumbly, that's a sign you have eliminated feedback at the low end by installing your TT on the wall shelf. If this is what's happened, the feedback in the old setup may have been masking a brightness problem.

"Garbled and warbly" may mean the cart is disfunctional as you say. Some damage will show up on visual inspection, if you have a clear recollection of how the cart looked when new. Inspect the cantilever to see if it is centred in the mount. Other damage--a failed suspension for example--may be invisible and not show up until you try to play a record.

Is it possible the VTF is reading wrong? That might happen if the counterweight has moved. A setting much too low or much too high might give you garbled and warbly (although warbly might be TT speed instability too, I suppose).

You could start over again, as Ncarv suggests, right back to remounting the cart and balancing the arm. Check to make sure the stylus is clean, first!

It's just a thought, but if you moved the TT to the shelf with the main platter still mounted on the bearing, the suspension could have bounced some. A lot of bounce can throw settings off or worse.

Shows that advice is great, good advice is better, and in the end you have to rely on your own perceptions and judgements anyway. Please let us know how it turns out, and best of luck.

If you like the Blackbird, consider having it rebuilt or retipped. I've just had two carts nicely redone by Peter Ledermann at Soundsmith. You could give them a call at (914) 739-2885 ( http://www.sound-smith.com/ for an idea of their rates ). They also sell cartridges, and would advise you.