Lemme preface this: I am a bonehead when it comes to hardware, and
almost a total idiot when it comes to turntables. The sheer amount of
variables (tracking force, alignment, etc.) intimidate me to no end,
so please go easy on me...I simply won't understand unless it's put in
very newbie language.

That said:

I recently replaced my cartridge (P-mount) with an Audio Technica
cartridge. My old one was damaged, and on a friend's advice I got the
AT as a replacement.

Now:

I'm getting some *major* sibilance/high-frequency problems on some
albums, the problem being that I have no idea if they've always been
there or if it's this cartridge that's introducing them. The problem
shows up most frequently as a kind of sibilance...it isn't, however,
just that the "S"es are particularly harsh, but that some instances
introduce tons of noise into the signal. The sibilance is very
"dirty," in other words, with a burst of distortion often accompanying
it.

Additionally, certain periods of high-frequency activity often
introduce a lot of noise into the signal.

Could this problem be cartridge related? Is it fixable? Might my
records just be kinda trashed?:-(

Thanks,

-D