squawky phono - help...

blimey, havent been on here for a long while and frankly my hifi hasnt had as much use as it should for a while.. just got round to fiddling with a problem on my turntable (or somewhere in that chain) to no effect. the sound is really scratchy/distorted/distant particularly at top end, clearly a big problem somewhere and completely unlistenable. now I'm not a turntable fiddler by nature so I did the obvious of remaking all the connections from pre to phono amp (Diablo) and turntable (Gyro Se), reconnected the cartridge tags (audio technica something, anywhay only maybe 50 hours use on it), realigned the cartridge, checked the phon oamp settings hadnt changed. no difference. any suggestions at to anything obvious to fiddle with - or does it sound like a component's buggered?

 

Sounds most like a cart problem. Have you got some crud stuck to the needle, or is it possible it's not aligned properly?

Is it most noticeable at the end of sides?

 

I brushed off the needle, can't see anything else stuck on there, and did a quick realignment, to no effect, which makes me wonder whether it's perhaps a problem with the phono amp. (or perhaps in the internals of the catridge rather than the sharp end). it's all the time, not just end of sides, and not a subtle effect