A somewhat surprising (to me anyway) update. I calibrated the Fozgometer and realigned the cart. It took some fiddling as one might expect, but I kept adjusting until I had the overhang and azimuth very close based on the Fozgometer reading. I played Track 1 on the Analog Productions Test LP through the Fozgometer and it confirmed a perfect mono signal.
At that point, I felt confident enough to play an LP that I wouldn't be too worried about damaging. And frankly, I was floored. Gone was any of the distortion I was hearing, but what shocked me was the increased clarity over all. I played several records and heard IGD on none of them. I even played some worn records, and while distortion on those was noticeable in the highs, it was clearly minimized from what I heard before.
I've now played maybe 10 records and it is obvious to me that there has been a massive improvement. So I thank those who pointed out an incorrect azimuth setting as being my problem.
That said, the cartridge absolutely is noticeably titled. If one were to look at it straight on (can I post pics here??), you'd certainly assume that the azimuth is off. But the Fozgometer and my ears completely disagree. The sound is exactly what I hoped/expected it should be.
So the theory would be that my cartridge is damaged, but this is rather strange, isn't it? It would seem to me that the cantilever would have to be bent for this to occur, but I've never had the cart sounding like this except for MAYBE the day I first installed it (my notes tell me every record I played sounded perfect on that day). And wouldn't you think that if the cart was damaged, sound would be affected negatively and noticeably? I know you readers don't know me, but trust me, my ears are kinda picky. I can't say that it looks like the cantilever is bent when I was looking at the cart as it was mounted previously, but now it sure looks like it's sitting in the grooves straight on from the best that I can see.
If we assume the cantilever is bent, what is the most likely reason for this? I've never had it any heavier than the recommended 2.0 grams (it was usually closer to 1.7 or 1.8), I only clean it carefully and as needed with the Onzow Zerodust or an appropriate brush, and it probably only has 100 or so hours on it (it's really tough to estimate).
In any case, I'm curious to hear others' thoughts here.
