Clearaudio Emotion lacks dynamics

OOPS! Re-read your post and saw that you are in fact using the Virtuoso cart. Start with a baseline measurement and work from there.

Not sure what phono stage you are using or what type of TT/Cart you may have been using before, but if you were used to listening to a cart with a fairly high-output, the Virtuoso at 3.6mv may not have as much "poop." Just a thought...

Roblanger's instructions are correct - the VTA is very easy to adjust. While I don't have the Emotion TT, I do have a Satisfy arm which is the same. The VTA set screw on the Emotion is in the plinth. You need a wrench (I assume a hex key) or screwdriver to loosen/tighten that. Use your hand to grasp the base of the arm and raise/lower it into position. Usually you want to sight the arm so it's perfectly parallel with the platter. If you start with that you can fine tune it.Sometimes it helps to have a set of shims such as a deck of cards to hold the arm height in place as you're sighting it. Be careful not to strip the set screw or the hole in the plinth.

I don't know if this is true for all tables, but I have found record players to be very dependent on where they sit. You probably have your new table set up the way your old table sounded best, which may not be working as well as it did before. You also need to give yourself some time to adjust to the new table to accurately guage its strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks for all the helpful input. I am going to use the advice to fine tune my VTA this afternoon and I'll report back. But one thing I just did that made a HUGE improvement was change my cabling. I was using a pair of Silver Sonics to go from the Clearaudio to the Bellari. I took those out, and I'm now using all copper from Clearaudio to Bellari (Straightwire Chorus) and copper from the Bellari to the amplifier (Kimbre Timbre). It almost seems as if silver cables can make the sound a bit "restricted" but they can provide more clearity in the high end.

Yes the cartridge is very worn in because I purchased used from a member here on Audiogon who estimated about 350-400 hours on the cart. And yes the Goldring has an output of 6.5 mV which is almost double the output of the Virtuoso.

One thing I have noticed about this table though is that it's horrible at isolating vibrations; the mmf-5.1 did a better job at that. This may require me to come up with better isolation feet or something.

Part of the reason that I went with the Marantz over the stock Emotion was the feet. The Marantz feet have alot more mass. I'm using a Target wall shelf, but there are a number of other options for isolation.

Glad to hear that cabling solved some of your issues.