Why does my vinyl sound so bright?

Keep in mind that getting that cartridge aligned and VTA and VFT set just so will dramatically affect the sound. If you are a complete vinyl imbecile then this is likely the problem. Great sound doesn't come easily with vinyl, it's worth a lot to have a very knowledgable friend who can come and help. There are some real guru's on here and vinyl asylum that can and love to help you get things dialed in. Don't be afraid to ask.

After you're SURE the cartridge cantilever is still straight and hasn't been accidentally bent, double check your cartridge tracking force, it is easiest to knock out of whack accidentally. The Blackbird tracks at 2g. Then check your cartridge loading, you can experiment with the GCPH. Then adjust your VTA to be a little negative, that is, so that the back of the arm is slightly lower than the front when the needle rests on an average thickness record.

Eldartford has a point when he says moving to the wall shelf (an EXCELLENT idea, btw) may have changed the character significantly. The improvement here usually manifests as more space between the notes, which could come across as more lively.

ditto the first two posts in combo.

Wall mount TT shelf is NOT an excellent idea. The house's wall in North America are usually made of dry wall. If a TT shelf mount to the dry wall in the Hi-Fi room., the dry wall(large surface area) will act as a giant DIAGHPARM and will transit the vibration(causing by sound wave) back to your TT.

Unless the wall are solid concrete then it might not be a problem.

Get a good VTF (vertical tracking force) gauge. Start there. You can find nice digital one's on this site. I got mine from SORA Sound. Great price on the same one you'll see for anywhere from $129-$185. This one piece of gear has helped me to perfectly dial in the sound of my Benz Glider.