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So I just set up my first hifi system: Debut Carbon, Onkyo A-9050, and some Infinity RS5 speakers. I followed the tutorials for setting up the turntable and the needle tracks just fine, but the quality is shit. I hooked my phone up to my new amp and played the same song that was spinning on the table at the same time and the difference is huge. The mp3 version sounds amazing on this amp. Is the Ortofone 2M red a junk cartridge? Maybe my expectations were too high for this turntable? I played a few different records including 180g of RHCP-Stadium Arcadium. Looking for some insight. Thanks.

I hate creating new threads for this kind of stuff when I know there are tons of other threads about amps, but I feel like everyone's situation is different and we are all asking different questions and looking for different answers so here goes... Here is my current setup: Pro-ject Debut Carbon with standard Ortofon 2M Red MM Cartridge Denon AVR-810 Receiver Epos Epic 1 Bookshelf speakers I am looking to upgrade to an integrated amp and I am having a hard time making a decision. These are the ones I am looking at... Yamaha A-S300 Yamaha A-S500 Onkyo A-9050 Marantz PM6004 Honestly I really don't want to spend over $350 but I can't say I'm not considering that Marantz so I have to throw it in there. I'm not one to blast my speakers ever really so I am wondering what I would lose if I were to go with a Yamaha A-S300 over the A-S500. Also, have any of you had any experience with Onkyo Integrated Amplifiers? What are your thoughts on the Onkyo A-9050? Also, what are your thoughts on 2-channel receivers? The Yamaha A-S500BL looks like a good option, and I like the idea of having a tuner, but what am I losing by going with a receiver over an integrated amp?