Can upgrading your front end make your bad records sound good?

They were not bad but rather unnoticed.
Yes something magical happens and they transform making sense.
Then you realize that your collection has suddenly increased.

G

I find that with a top notch well matched, and balanced TT/arm/cartridge combo, if the VTA and alignment are spot on pops and ticks tend to be on a different "plain" to the music and are easily ignored.

If the overall sound is out of balance, or there are issues, e.g. bright or compressed, then noise becomes  more intrusive.

If the phono stage overloads at ultra high frequencies this can exacerbate pops and ticks. This is more likely with solid stage MC stages than tube phonos.

I have always felt that every true upgrade to phono reproduction brings LPs that I had earlier felt to be mediocre or even terrible, in terms of SQ, to a higher level of SQ, where at times I have come to love some LPs that I once would have given away.  I can name two very popular labels where I have found this to be the case, one is Atlantic and the other is Blue Note.  Yes, I was once guilty of the blasphemy of not liking Blue Note LPs very much for SQ, although I am a big fan of the best jazz artists that once performed on their LPs. 

When SQ increases performances can be more appreciated.
Now listening to a very old sounding Billie Holiday. Clearly hearing the phrasing and emotion is thrilling. Big orchestral pieces are still a challenge. But hearing them less congested is cool. And piano sounds much closer to the real thing. And this is just with the Triplanar. Very interested to hear the $28k MP-1 and the $12k Lyra.
It is a major investment. Should be clearly reflected.
A significant current issue is that the compliance of the Miyajima cart is a mismatch with the Triplanar. I get distortion on dynamic peaks. The Lyra is a strong recommendation from Triplanar. Think the proper tracking will be excellent. And I ought to get a ton more details!

@mglik 

Your new cartridge and preamp should be great.
I would suggest you do one change at a time, do one, have a listen for a couple of days, and then the other - this will give you a better understanding of your system, which will be handy for future upgrades.