Additional Upgrades
These are not really part of your Debut Carbon but should be considered by anyone who loves the sound of vinyl.
Improve Your Phono Preamp
As you may know, the sound coming out of your cartridge is at a very low level, and needs to have an equalization circuit called RIAA applied before it makes its way to your amplifier. (You can read more in our turntable buyers guide). The quality of the phono preamp can make a huge difference in the sound of your system.
One model that is a very good value is the Phono Box S2 at
Regular Price
$199.00
$199.00
. It has a whole bank of switches on the bottom allowing you to fine tune it for a moving magnet, high output moving coil, or low output moving coil. Very high quality components are used throughout resulting in a clean, effortless sound with many more subtle details revealed to your ears. You’ll also notice a big improvement in bass over most built-in phono stages.
Really Clean Your Vinyl
A very clean record sounds far better than one that has not been properly cleaned. You’ll experience a huge reduction in surface noise, allowing you to listen more closely to the individual instruments. As you get the grime out of the way of your stylus, it will track deeper in the grooves, picking up more nuances of your music. A very clean record compared to a dirty one is analogous to the difference between a dirty window vs a clean window!
The only real way to get your vinyl seriously clean is with a wet cleaning system. Pro-Ject actually makes a great record cleaning system called the VC-E for . It is a great wet cleaning system with a vacuum to remove all of the debris the wet cleaning lifts out of the grooves, leaving you with a pristine surface. If you have some friends who are into vinyl, it's not a bad idea to share the cost and share the machine as you only need to do a wet cleaning once if you handle your records with care.
Pro-Ject also now has two pretty cool record sweepers to keep your vinyl clean as it plays called the Sweep It E and Sweep It S2. These are great to use after you have given your records a good wet clean to remove any residue they might pick up inside the record sleeve.
How to Clean Vinyl Records and Care For Them Properly >
Maintenance
If your Debut turntable is more than 2 years old, it is likely that you could use a new belt and some oil in the bearing. These are inexpensive parts we normally have in stock. The oil is called Lube It, and the belt is easy to change out.
Free Tips
Acoustic feedback getting into your turntable can have a very negative impact on the sound. The larger your speakers are and the closer they are to your turntable, the more likely this can happen. You will hear feedback as a howling sound and once you hear it, you will know what we mean!
You can prevent feedback by not having your turntable and speakers on the same shelf and placing your turntable on a solid surface.
Another consideration is how you route the cables coming out of your turntable. They are carrying a very low-level signal and you want to keep them as far away as possible from AC power cords. If you have to cross an AC cord, do it at a 90-degree angle. Never tie the phono cables and power cable together for neatness, keep them far apart. You should also never try to extend the length of your phono cables. They are short for a reason.
We hope these tips and suggestions on how to upgrade your Debut turntable make your world of vinyl listening even more fun. If you have any questions, give us a call at 888.899.8776, chat with us, or stop by our award-winning showrooms. If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to us at www.audioadvice.com. We are excited to help you improve your musical experience while having fun along the way.