Project Phono Box and Debut 2 TT question

Nuno never mentioned that he has the new version with tubes, I am quite sure it is the usual transistor version. Burn in is a cop out. Nuno does not indicate what cart he has; I presume that the tt came all assembled with the cart installed. Double-edged proposition: on the one hand the cart is well mounted, on the other the cart, at that price point, is probably an almost marginal proposition. I assume that you have an mm cart. Make sure that the internal jumpers in the Phono Box are adjusted for the type of cart you use (moving magnet or moving coil). It may be (but I doubt it if you bought it new) that the Phono Box could be set to mc which would give you too much gain for just about every mm cart. If it is not the problem and your tt is properly set-up insofar as it being level side to side and front to back, I am afraid it probably means that you will have to spend more on your vinyl front end to achieve the sound quality you desire. Don't believe all that you read about the magic of vinyl. It only comes at a price and with a lot of effort to set it up and then to keep it going by feeding it well-maintained and cleaned records. Try to get a taste of what something higher up in the overall scheme of vinyl front ends can bring before spending more. Good luck. PS make sure you judge the thing by using a wide variety of LPs. Despite all the proselytizing, some are good and some are terrible. My son was kind enough to buy me The Beatles White Album for X-mas; the sound is steely hard (digital remastered BTW) enough to send you back to the CD version in no time. LPs are not all created equal, and then they go downhill from there.

Maybe I should I have been more specific. The cart. is a mm and comes already mounted. The phono box is set to mm (factory default). I'm replacing the phono stage first and see how it goes.
I'm coming back to vinyl after 14 years. I'm not new to it. In my parents house there's a TT and I still listen to it once in a while.
I live in a another country (UK) and it's not possible to compare the Debut2 against the "relic" AIWA (from the late 70's). I did try diferent records with similar results. Only the phono in the Aura integrated sounds acceptable.

I'll try to get a used phono stage around $300/500, something that I could keep when I replace the Debut2.

You may want to try a different cartridge than the stock one that came with your turntable. I have a Pro-Ject 1.2 with a Parasound PPH-100 phono preamp. It was also my entry back into vinyl after fifteen years. I felt the same as well, somewhat lifeless sound until I replaced the Sumiko Oyster cartridge with an Audio Technica cartridge. The AT gave more extended bass, clearer mids and extended highs. You may want to give a different cartridge a try before replacing the turntable.