Scraping sound

Dirty or defective records? Dirty or damaged stylus? Incorrect settings for cartridge/tonearm? Platter scraping & transmitting noise through record to stylus?

Just work through the list one at a time until you locate the culprit.

I would suggest checking for adequate lubricating grease at the top of the inverted bearing. I believe that the process is specified in the owner's manual. Otherwise a quick call to VPI could prove to be helpful.

Is the back of the tonearm scrapping the edge of the record perhaps?

I have a Zephyr and was concerned about how low it seemed to be riding on the records. I called Peter Ledermann (Soundsmith, maker of the Zephyr) who suggested raising the rear end of the tonearm (VPI JMW 10.5i) and reducing the vertical tracking force (VTF) to 1.4 grams. It says 1.8 to 2.2 grams in the Zephyr's data sheet, but the changes did the trick.

I don't know whether the back-end of your Zephyr is actually touching the record but if so, this will probably fix the problem.

If you take Bill_k's advice, be careful. You have no idea how sharp that thing is. Unfortunately, I do. It will be out the other side of your finger before you even realize it went in.