Seems to me that you've isolated the problem to the left channel and w your #7 above, it's most likely a bad connection, but it could be an interconnect or a jack. When you say you switched interconnects (#5) are you talking about those between the phono box and the TT or between the phono box and the Mastersound, or both? In #7, were you applying pressure to the phono box input or output connections? If the Carbon has captive ICs, you may want to check that the interface between the cart leads and the IC is secure, but only if it's easily accessible. Regardless of the outcome of that test, I'd bring it back and let the dealer deal with it (pun intended). It's defective out of the box, you've done a considerable amount of trouble shooting and that's what you are paying him a mark-up for.
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