No bass with new turntable?

 Ok, results! After reading all the suggestions yesterday I decided to come home and completely re set-up everything from start to finish, but with even more attention to detail. Right off the bat upon someone's suggestion, I did notice the tiny red cart cable partially out, so I pressed that all the way back in. I continued to go through everything else, got out the level, ruler, magnifying glass, etc and really tried to get it right. Then I let the unit run the rest of the evening on low volume while I watched TV, just thinking of someone's comment about maybe needing more break-in. 
 Today I pulled out a brand new out-of-the-cellophane LP and started her up. Wow, what a difference, dynamics there, soundstage, the bass/mid bass there, something happened in a good way. The problem is, it's kind of inconclusive as I'm not sure what I did that fixed it. I have a hunch it might have been that cable, but then it might be a combination of things. I put the old Eagles album back on and definitely noticed that the older pressed vinyl was inferior. Very noticeable. Bummer as I have more "oldies" on the way from eBay that will probably sound inferior. The music is really enjoyable now and makes up for a first evening of regret and anticlimax listening. I know the break-in is controversial but I imagine it might improve with more time. Now that I think about it, I did receive a discount for an open box unit, which leads me to believe my TT may have been "tampered" with previously. 
 Someone above inquired which cables I was using, they are just the stock Pro-ject cables, is there a consensus that replacing them helps? Any recommendations? Tweaking is just a nature of the beast in this hobby and I would love to improve them. The rest of my system uses Audioquest, but I'm open to anything. I've read they should be TT specific cables.
 I'm going to let this unit burn in for another 40-50 hours and then make a decision how deep to delve into things. As someone mentioned above, the point of diminishing returns is knocking at the door. I'm really enjoying the Rogue Audio amp as well (had a Bryston bp60 for 17 years). 
 Thanks again for your help. The wife isn't home yet and I'm going straight in the listening room to crank some tunes....
 

Glad to note you've obtained more satisfactory results.  The biggest differences in turntable performance often come from tiny changes.  Alignment is probably the most important, closely followed by VTF and VTA.  Pro-Ject makes a nice protractor called Strobe-It that's easier to use than the paper one in their manual.  You note you were tracking at 1.75 grams (presuming that 17.5 in your post yesterday was a typo - I hope it was). You might find 2 grams more pleasant with the 2M Red; it worked better with mine on my vintage PL-15D II, anyway.

On the old Eagles album, some stuff just wasn't pressed all that well and/or was poorly mastered.  Age has very little to do with it in most cases.  I have an original Verve stereo pressing of the Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz Getz/Gilberto from 1963 that is one of the best recordings I've ever heard.  Try some other stuff, and make sure your LPs and stylus are clean before every play.  Lots of posts in the archives here if you want to get more info on that.

Cabling is another topic that generates a lot of comment here, so the archives are again useful.  You'll have to decide what works for you for yourself.  The only thing I'll add is a link to what Roger Russell from McIntosh had to say:  http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm.  

Good luck & (now) happy listening!

Hey whatever it was sounds like things are better now, maybe even working as it should.  The loose cart connection would be my first bet, but does not matter at this point.   Next time, to be able to determine conclusively only change one thing at a time between listens.  But hey you covered multiple suspects in short time and made a difference so good for you!.

Hope it works out.   If not, there is always the digital.

Myself, I would not use a turntable these days unless I already owned a bunch of records or was interested in old recordings not available otherwise.   Both apply to me.    I bought my current "good" table back in the 80s when digital was just starting because I already had a lot of records I liked and did not want to have to replace.  Nowadays, I might buy a new or rare lp once in  a while but mostly I seek out older less popular records in good shape on the cheap just to be able to expand my library with new interesting listens for not very much.   Buying cheap used vinyl rather than CDs can help pay for teh table over time.     Plus many analog recordings from teh 60's and earlier mastered with tube gear and prior to advent of transistors in particular and even from the seventies prior to digital are unique sonic treats these days.  Even remastered to CD.   Its harder to justify buying newer recordings on vinyl over CD IMHO unless said recording is known to be special for some reason.

Enjoy!

I’m in the same boat my friend.I dove back into analog after a 30 year absence,If your comparing digital to it,it never stands up in terms of dynamics,pace,speed and certainly da bottom end and the control of it.Nature of the beast,IMO....

missioncoonery, if that’s your current take on vinyl vs. digital, you have some great discoveries and fun listening to look forward to as you adjust your analog playback chain to realize its full potential.

It’s almost a subconscious thing that happens if you’re willing to experiment with platter mats, platforms, cartridges, headshells (if applicable), etc. I liked my vinyl playback when I got back into it eight years ago after 20 years of all-digital, but my rig (with the same turntable) sounds way better now. Over the years I got a fluid damper for the tonearm, sorbothane platter mat, better headshell, upgraded cartridge, brass cones and Vibrapod isolators for the footers, a thick maple butcherblock cutting board and silicone gel pads as an isolation platform. I also improved the phono stage a couple of times. 

Cartridge burning-in and cabling are controversial only to those who can't hear things. You've got substandard cable. I would not jump to 2g tracking force if 1.75g is recommended, I would try 1.8g and 1.7g and I would experiment with anti-skate the last. Give it at least 100 hours of play in any case.