Trying to get back into Lps, I seem to be throwing

All good additional suggestions. I absolutely agree about the break-in time for the cartridge of 50 hours or so, and the possible need to break-in the phono stage on the preamp (as much as 100-200 hours).

Power55, don't worry about where you have to set your volume control to get the same volume as with your CDP. Its simply a matter of the amount of gain coming from the phono stage/cartridge combination. You're in good shape as long as the background noise from the electronic circuitry is not causing you a problem, with one caveat. If you're having to turn your volume control past about 3 o'clock, you may not have enough overall headroom (gain); the indicator for this will be somewhat limited dynamics. Overall, with 2.5mv output, I would not expect this to be an issue for you. (In your setup, a cartridge with 4.5mv output would have you setting your volume control at about the same position as with your CDP or lower.)

Bass response should come as your cartridge breaks in and as you readjust your tracking force and VTA with that break-in. Slightly higher VTF will also increase the bass output, as does slightly lower VTA. But in practice, to get the right setup, as you increase VTF you will also need to increase VTA to keep everything properly aligned and the sound properly balanced. These two adjustments are interactive. But I'd wait until you get that 50+ hours playing time on the cartridge before working to much on this. Then, read Lloyd Walker's recommendations for fine tuning your turntable and go at it by ear:
http://www.walkeraudio.com/fine_tuning_your_turntable.htm

You may never get as much bass response from your Project turntable and your current phono stage as you get from your CDP. But depending on the music you enjoy, with break-in and continuing fine-tuning of your set-up, you may find yourself very pleased with the improvements elsewhere in the sonic fabric as compared to your CDP.
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Powers55

I was experiencing the same disappointment you describe, until Albert Porter properly set-up my Basis Debut/Graham 1.5/ZYX Airy 2 combo.

It turned out neither the arm nor cartridge was sufficiently tightened down, thereby killing the bass and dynamics. The cart was also mis-aligned, even though a good friend who knows what he's doing did the original set-up. There's no substitute for perfect set-up. I'm now as happy as can be with my vinyl rig.

Good luck with yours.

Thanks every one for all the great info. I will just have to wait untill the cartridge reaches the 50+ hr mark and see if that does the trick, along with fine tuning the angle of the dangle.

Power55 – I owned a Project Perspective turntable with Benz Mc20E cartridge for many years, this was my first step into serious vinyl. The Perspective is a great sounding table when set up properly, and once set-up you can pretty much forget about it. I think “Rushton” is one the right track, it’s the set-up. I had mine professionally set-up, it’s the best $60 I could spend. I started using a Parasound Phono preamp but it sounded dull, I also tried the phono sections is my McIntosh C-28 & MX 113 preamps. These sounded better but fell way short to my EAR 834P which I am currently using. So check the set up, try a different phono stage, get a VPI 16.5 RCM and enjoy!!!!!

I agree with the above regarding proper setup of the table and cartridge. There is one way to rule out a faulty setup--spin a few CD's. How does your system sound when you are using the digital playback? If there is a marked difference for the worse then you have isolated the table and cartridge as the source of the problem. If both sound bad the problem is elsewhere. If you are getting really bad sound my first suspect would be the room and setup of the loudspeakers. Have you tried moving things around? If the sound is simply not as good as you heard in the showroom with the same equipment then I would concentrate on the room/speaker interaction. If the sound is just a little lackluster then I think the problem may be your amp and speaker interface. I extensively auditioned the Aerial 7B's twice. The first time with a 60wpc Macintosh tube amp. The sound was warm but really slow and lacking in dynamic energy. In fact, I was ready to walk out of the demo after a few discs. We then hooked up a 200wpc solid state amp and holy cow did those speakers come to life. The Aerials are warm anyway so they don't really need tubes--they need POWER. If the sound you are getting is overripe, sluggish and lacking toe tapping excitement, try a different set of electronics. The Aerials are nice but they really need some juice--I don't think your Mac is doing them justice.