Few technical questions about an Ortofon MC cart on a Scout 2...


Non-technical enthusiast here, facing a bit of a conundrum...

I picked up a Scout 2 today, and the previous owner was kind enough to throw in a high end Ortofon X5-MC, albeit "possibly broken". During handling he knocked the cantilever. It’s perfectly centred and the stylus appears in tact, but when the cartridge makes contact with vinyl the cantilever recedes or "lifts" a hair...as in, it gets pushed back into the body by about 1-1.5mm.

The record player itself is in beautiful shape and appears to be functioning perfectly, but every record I’ve played so far sounds sluggish and rather muffled in the low end - particularly as compared to my spritely Rega P3.

Adding to the confusion is my phono preamp - a Sonneteer Sedley, which has all kinds of resistive and capacitance switches for MM/MC carts. I’ve tried about 3-4 settings so far, in the ballpark for a high output MC cart, but none has remedied this basic "sluggishness".

Can you kind folks help me diagnose this? Is the cartridge definitely kaput? If so, can it be repaired? Is it possibly a tracking/force issue?

I won’t bore you with the Sedley’s switches and X5’s technical specs unless it comes to that...

pupil
I am very much indebted to you, Al, for your thoughtful and very generous assistance.

Thank you! 
As always Al is a gentleman and a fount of knowledge.
He has saved myself many a headache and potential damage over the time I have been a member here.

It sounds like you got yourself a bargain as the cart appears to be good now you have tweaked the setup.
Enjoy.
Thanks for the nice words, gentlemen.  Glad I was helpful.

Best regards,
-- Al