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Integrating a new turntable into existing system and having sound quality problems...

Hi, I just a purchased a brand new turntable a Project Carbon debut and a Project Phono Box and integrated them into my existing stereo system and have run into some sound quality issues.


Problems

1. The first album I played was a brand new Diana Krall Wallflower album.  Her voice seemed very thin and crackly (not the traditional cracks and pops of vinyl) which was surprising given her voice is so smooth when listening to her CDs.  I brought the album back to the store and they played it on their cheap system and it seemed to work fine.

2. None of the other albums had the same level of thinness and tininess as the diana Krall album but they all seemed light on bass compared to listening to CDs on the same system.

3. One odd thing i noticed on the Diana Krall album was that my tonearm kept wanting to come off the album at the start rather than grab a groove and work inwards.  not a problem i have experienced with the other 6 albums I have been playing.


My Setup

Rotel RCD 991 as a transport

Bryston Dac

Mastersound compact 845 integrated - Single end triode with 2x30 watts

Pioneer speakers S-03EX - their TAD  trickle down speakers - not the usual Pioneer speaker


I added the Project Carbon Debut, plugged into the Project Phono Box, plugged into the AUX input of the integrated amp (therefore I am using both the pre and power functions of the integrated)


Any help on troubleshooting the poor sound quality issue would be appreciated.  I wasn't sure if it was related to

1. vinyl sounds like crap compared to CD (not likely) but it does in the Diana krall situation

2. is it just the wrong synergy of the system?

3. is the turntable not good enough to match the quality of the amp and speakers?

4. are there adjustments that I should be making to the tonearm to have more down ward force to pick up more bass???

5.do I need a higher quality phono stage?

6. should I get a higher quality phono pre amp and skip the pre amp stage in my integrated - although I assume given the build quality of my integrated, I would need to pay a pretty penny to get a comparable or better stand alone phono preamp.


Any input would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

vwman111

Showing 3 responses by minkwelder

minkwelder
255 posts
 
I don’t know why you’re experiencing problems only with the Diana Krall album, but it sounds as if you have not set the proper Vertical Tracking Force (VTF). I'm assuming you installed the tonearm counterweight which is packaged separately in the carton. If you did, you still need to adjust VTF. This is done with the counterweight.

Check your instruction manual for the procedure.
minkwelder
255 posts
 
Do you have the CD player plugged into the CD or Direct input? If it’s running into the CD input and sounds OK, try temporarily plugging the phono preamp into the CD input. If it still sounds bad, you’ve eliminated the amp as the source of the problem.

Then try reversing the interconnects at the amp (L to R and R to L) and see if the noise moves to the right channel. If it does, first suspect a bad interconnect or bad connection in the side making noise. It could be anywhere along the signal path all the way back to the cartridge.

Do you know for certain that the Phono Box is OK?

You will find the problem if you logically run through a process of elimination.

EDIT: After posting, I decided to look for some customer reviews on the Debut Carbon. That's when I discovered that there are numerous complaints about noise and hum, particularly LEFT channel problems! It appears that you may be experiencing a problem that is due to a defect in the manufacture of the table.
minkwelder
255 posts
 
A new cartridge will not require a "much heavier" setting to break in. It sounds to me that either the cartridge is defective, or something may be interfering with the smooth vertical movement of the tonearm. Tight bearings?
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