Newly into vinyl;

I am listening to vinyl for the first time in 30 years. I have put together a nice solid-state & digital system, but just recently purchased a turntable. I found a boxed & unopened Denon DP-47f 'table from the late 80's. Turns out a serviceman purchased it in Japan & never used it. It is direct drive, but it has an exceptionally quiet motor and has manual/automatic functions. It came with the original Denon high-output MC cartridge. I am having a problem with noise, however. Unless I play a new MFSL, Simply Vinyl or other audiophile pressing, I have a lot of snap, crackle & pop between tracks. With a new record though, nothing but a totally "black" background. I have tried the old-fashioned fluid & brush cleaners, and I also bought a "Spin Clean". Neither of these methods help. I have been told that I need a VPI vacuum cleaner or similar to get rid of the noise, but I don't remember such noise from the "old days." Could there be a cause other than dirt & dust? I have purchased a Ortophon Samba low-output MC cartridge to replace the Denon, but not had it installed yet. Could the "high output" cartridge be part of the problem? My system consists of the following:

Musical Fidelity A3cr dual-mono preamp with MC/MM phono stage;
Cambridge Audio Azur 740C upsampling CD player;
Odyssey Audio Stratus Plus SS amp (150 wpc into 8 ohms)
Audioquest line conditioner;
Von Schweikert VR-4 loudspeakers;
RBH SA-200 outboard configurable subwoofer amplifier;
RBH VF12 passive subwoofer;

Any advice would be appreciated!