Don, I suspect that your new monitor is a flat panel LCD type. Photographs tend to look sharper in my experience than on a CRT one especially an old one. However just to open a new can of worms so to speak, even though you think your new monitor is now set correctly, have you actually used a screen calibrator to create a profile. Its a shame really that although many people correct their images onscreen they have never actually profiled their monitor and therefore cannot be sure that things are as they should be.
I am referring to a device such as the Colorvision Spyder. You may be interested to know that a new affordable model has been released. There is a review of it
HERE I think you would be amazed at the difference it makes