Weak Link in Vinyl Playback

@nlitworld I’d love for it to be a free or cheap fix! Tracking force is 1.8g-2.2g, standard at 2.0 which is where I’m set and I did dial in the tracking on the turntable before setting that but have not measured with a digital scale. Platter mat is the original that came with the 1700, 3mm thick. Record listening is all over the place as far as vinyl weight. Tonearm is not perfectly level on a record, I don’t know how one would do that on my table because the height on the arm isn’t adjustable.

Like I said, there isn't one specific area I find lacking, i.e. dead bass or no highs, it just sounds a little weak overall, like adequate power isn't reaching the amp so I'm trying to find what ins't producing enough.

The Hana cartridges are full sounding....The PS Audio Stellar phono pre will give you a more full sound and if that's still not full enough....add a $200 Schiit Loki Mini ...you can EQ. fullness into the sound to suit your taste. Great little unit.....

@owl9113 I’m just going by the manufacturer’s specifications for your cartridge, AT-VM95ML which is not that much different than the Shibata-tipped model (except it is a lot cheaper). The impedance loading at the phono stage should be 47 kilOhms and the capacitance loading should be between 100 and 200 picoFarads. These are fairly standard values. Your cartridge puts out 3.5 milliVolts, which is higher than the standard 2.5 mV, you should be fine at a gain of ‘1’ (36 dB of gain, although Ifi allows you to move up to a gain of ‘2’ if the system is not producing enough volume. However, as the Ifi manual states, on p. 18 in their FAQ “How do I Know which Cartridge Setting is Right for Me” that you may well not be able to match the volume of CDs or downloads because vinyl recordings are less ‘loud’ since they encompass a greater dynamic range than CDs or downloads [due to the ‘loudness wars of the 80’s, etc.] (contra @nlitworld above, and from my experience, vinyl recordings are quieter, but the needles bounce more).
Regarding the Schiit products, if I had it to do over again, I might choose the Freya S, I still pick up a gain of 4 (12 dB), but I don’t have the heat and distortion from the tubes, not to mention the ability to stack other items on top, like a Schiit DAC or an Ifi phono stage. The difference for me, between a gain of 1 (0 dB) and a gain of 4 (12 dB) was about a 1/4 turn on the dial, maybe a bit more. If you’re maxed out at a gain of 1 on Saga, you should expect to get the same volume at 2 or 3:00 that you’re now getting at 5:00 (considering the volume knob as a clock face. It sounds like that is what you’re looking for.

Edit: The Crutchfield add cited various capacitance loadings, but I could find no reference in the Ifi manual. Again, the capacitance issue, while critical if not correct, should be ‘close enough’ at this point in your audio journey. You can keep it in mind when you decide to upgrade from the Ifi Zen in your system now, but I still am with Herb on this one, your immediate problem in getting satisfactory performance from your system is the lack of gain at the preamp. Scratch where you itch, you’ll feel better for it.

@owl9113, @jasonbourne71 makes a point about passive volume controls. They interact with the output impedance of your sources, in this case the DAC and your phono stage, both of which have to drive your amplifier thru the passive control, which can really increase the source impedance that the amplifier sees (this is bad, in case there's any question). Its highly unlikely that both have the same output impedance! Because of that its very possible that the phono section is working alright, but is placed in a bad light simply on this account. So its worth trying to run the line stage active rather than passive.

@atmasphere @jasonbourne71 I actually just turned off the active mode for the first time last week, prior to posting which is why I said I wasn’t using it. I switched it back on for now - thanks for the clarification. That seems to further the inability of the Saga to run gain being the problem.

@oldrooney I have no allegiance to Schiit or anything, but the Freya S does seem to get legitimately good reviews and measures well. If there’s anything else in this price range with similar performance, I’m certainly open to hearing it.