No bass with new turntable?

My explanation above was not good.  What I should have written is "lower the rear of the tonearm a tiny bit, so that the top surface of the headshell is very slightly slanted to the rear, rather than plane parallel to the LP surface".  I think that's clearer, but please do not hesitate to ask if it's not.  

You've left out the two most critical bits of information: What tonearm? What cartridge? (Maybe the Project you own comes with its own tonearm; I would not know.)  In any case, low bass response in vinyl is very much a function of the interaction of the tonearm with the cartridge and of cartridge alignment.  The most simple-minded thing to try is to lower the rear of the tonearm a tiny bit, so that the pivot point is very slightly below plane parallel with the surface of the LP, and listen again.  And no, vinyl is not per se bass deficient.

Missioncoonery,  If you're ONLY talking about very extreme low bass response, there I would agree that the best digital may have an edge on a "good" vinyl set up.  But in every other aspect, I would disagree with you.  However, if you prefer digital, I have no idea why you are spending any time at all with vinyl.  There must be SOMEthing you like about it.

I followed the saga from beginning to this end.  When you say that you let the system run while you watched TV (or something), were you actually playing LPs during this time, or was the system just "on"?  One point I failed to mention and which was not emphasized by others, either, is that many if not all cartridges DO require at least 5-10 hours of break-in from new, in order to max out the bass response, more so than for other higher frequencies.  IMO, this is because the suspension has to loosen up a bit.  I just went through such an experience with a re-tipped cartridge that had previously been "on the shelf" for many years.  What you experienced and are experiencing may be entirely due to break-in, which means that the bass response may continue to improve over the next several hours of actually playing LPs.

I also agree with whoever else suggested not to increase VTF dramatically beyond the manufacturer's recommendation (+0.5g is dramatic) just to chase bass response.  There is good reason to stay within the recommended range unless you have serious mistracking.

Terry9, I don't know why one should fear "oil" would be a problem with new LPs, but if it ever were a problem, one would be best off to use a solvent that can have a hope of solubilizing oily compounds, which would involve using a mild detergent, either ionic or non-ionic. Ultrasound and either "pure" or "distilled" water (you used these terms; I don't know how you distinguish between them) might not solubilize oily petroleum derivatives.  There is a prevailing belief that new LPs are plagued by "mold release" compounds; this idea has been recently dispelled; there's no such thing, according to one authority.