Clearaudio Emotion lacks dynamics

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.

I have a satisfy arm and getting the VTA correct can make a very big difference. I set mine (arm/cart level to the LP) for heavier/thicker records and then use a thin felt mat with thinner records. I see now why having an easy way to recalibrate VTA would be a very nice feature. Also, the anti-skate adjustment seems to also make a difference and having it adjusted to about 1/2 of the bolt thread works best on my set-up.

Hope you'vesolved your problem already, but Iwas told by the guys at Elusivedisc - folks I bought my Emotion from, to use the the round level disc that comes with it to set the spacing and then screw the arm in via the platter