Why does my system sound so shrill and distorted?

Check and experiment with your anti-skating. I recently dealt with a problem sounding similar to what you describe, and wouldn't have believed anti-skating could be the culprit, until I found out it actually was.

Before you go off the deep end to blame this on your turntable or tonearm or cartridge, have you tried another hi-level source, like a CD player, to determine whether the problem really has anything to do with phono. A bad or dying vacuum tube alone can cause the symptoms you describe.

Second Lew's advice, and also suggest that you make sure that the problem is not the LP pressings that you are playing that are the problem. Did you have a turntable before this one? And did the same LP's that are problematic now show the same symptoms before? Some LP pressings are just plain bad, and will play with some distortion no matter the equipment or the attention to setup.

Any significant change in distortion when you run the Stingray in Ultralinear? At 86 db, your speakers might be over-taxing its 18 watts in triode if you're playing loud in a large room. Probably not the problem--the sound would likely be kind of flaccid at the frequency extremes rather than shrill in the highs--but it's worth checking.

As dover said above, what gain setting are you using on your PH1? If you're on high, you're probably over-driving your amp's input, since your cartridge is high-output at 5 mV. That could make the sound shrill.

Your loading isn't a problem because 47K is what your PH1 gives you and also what your cartridge wants to see. Your 4-inch thick maple slab isn't the problem--if anything, the additional mass would emphasize the lows, not the highs.

Otherwise, it sounds like a stylus/cartridge issue. Make sure VTF and is in the middle of recommended range (to start); and set anti-skate to zero or barely above zero just to see what's what, and then gradually increase in tiny increments to see if it helps. You probably know these things already but they're worth a reminder.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the responses they have been very helpful and I think I finally have this nailed down.

Nanbil,

I just got the M1 vinyl in and its fantastic, It has a little bit of a clinical side to it with a pepper smidgen less lows than I normally go for but considering my room much welcomed splash of precision. The sound stage is fantastic, has a very clean top end, and the definition in the lows is really good. Plus you have to like the loading options.