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

A better component can never magically transform bad into good. One thing I have discovered however is how few bad recordings there are. For the most part they range from really good to freaking amazingly good. 

Time was, it seemed I had quite a few records that were just sort of so-so. I thought they were just weak recordings or poor pressings. Now it is surprising how many of these turn out to be really good. They come to life, and not with extra anything added either but just what was always there revealed and brought out into the light. 

This is not all on the front end either. This same thing happens with wire, speakers, springs. Anything genuinely better just naturally reveals in a way that lets you hear everything better.

You don't have pedestrian gear. 

A record BETTER sound good. That's stamper playing equipment-no lame reissue LP's-period originals only.

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.