Supratek phono stage dark?

I just received my new Chenin preamp and I notice that when playing records it sounds much darker than my previous Conrad Johnson PV 12. In fact, I can barely hear the cymbals, and even female vocals seem a bit recessed. On the other hand, the bass response is great. Mick, the owner of the company, has been responsive and helpful, but I'm wondering if any one else has experienced this? I'm using a Clearaudio Auram S mm cartridge with 3.5 gain which seems to present no gain problems. Although the manual says that the phono stage is designed for moving coil only, Mick said that the cartridge would probably work.