Brand new to vinyl: Help!

Yes, the IC is rather poor quality.  A good used one should run you under $100.  My SME IV also came with a piece of crap IC for what was once a $3500 arm.

Update from OP here:

Long story short: bought a Clearaudio Concept from my local dealer. He gave me a good deal I could not pass up. Just the standard tone arm and standard “concept” cartridge.

Just set it up with my dealer’s help, and it sounds great. No comparison with the Project Debut Carbon DC Esprit which is going back.

To complicate things, I have an Ortofon 2M Bronze coming in the mail, so question becomes: is the Ortofon Bronze better than the standard Concept cartridge, or should I just return it ?

Nobody?

Boy, you don't fool around thyname!  Totally different leagues between the Debut and the Concept as you've already discovered.

IMO, the 2M Bronze is much better than the Concept MM.  Not everyone would agree, but that's as may be.  Do you really want to change it out right now?  That's not an easy answer.  It generally takes some time to get everything to equilibrium and properly broken-in; usually ~50 hours of use.  Only then can you identify the synergies and weaknesses in any given rig.

The Concept MM can always be sold later if you aren't satisfied, as could the 2M Bronze.  Depreciation will apply to both, although the 2M can stay in the box for awhile without losing very much.

My suggestion would be to return the 2M and live with the Concept MM for the rest of the year.  Save your money, think about how your system performs and do some A-B comparisons between your digital sources and your analog source.  Try a few "golden oldies" like Getz & Gilberto or Harry James on Sheffield too.  At that point, you might well find that you'll want to make the move to a LOMC instead.  That move most often represents a whole new world of detail, image and dynamics.

Your call either way.  In the meantime, enjoy a very nice vinyl rig.  Happy listening!

@effischer : much appreciate your well-thought reply to me. Thank you!

This kinda fell on my lap. A dealer I know locally, who is also a friend texted me about the unit - clearaudio concept I bought - that a customer just brought this in at the store (authorized clearaudio dealer) as a trade up.

So I went to take a look, and it was indeed in pristine condition, nothing missing, only four months used.

He also helped me with realigning the cart, and other setting I don't know yet.

Needless to say, I got a good price too.

Very interesting advice on selling the Bronze cart! It did cross my mind, but I am very curious to compare the two. I need to thing this over, and possibly take your advice and resist the temptation to try the Bronze.

BTW - I also bought a nice maple wood stand from the same dealer to put it underneath the table. It's a pity I cannot post pics here. Looks great!