hi all i just got started using a turntable and have some questions. my setup is
- Pro-ject Debut 3 turntable with a generic needle replacement for Ortofon OM 5E
- Sansui AU-G33X

So the questions:
1. am I supposed to use the MM or MC switch on the receiver? i've tried both and both works. MM gives me a bassy, muddled tone while MC gives me a dry, loud sound.
2. what should i do to get the best of my setup? the receiver has several switches: bass & treble knobs, the "tone" switch which has "defeat" or "on", and the "filters" switches which are "low", "high" and "loudness"
3. what's the easiest, cheapest way to clean the stylus?

appreciate your help!

1. Technically the OM 5E is a MM type cart but I'd use whatever setting sounds best. You wont hurt anything running it on the MC setting as long as you use restraint with the volume knob.
2. Two places to focus attention to get the most out of any vinyl setup are: using really clean high quality vinyl, and vibration elimination/isolation
3. I use a stylys brush soaked in a little water or water/isopropyl alcohol mixed but there are many recipes I've seen people use

yeah i keep switching back between MM and MC to find the better tone, then i read somewhere on the internet it might break my setup. thanks for clarifying!

i still have a problem with muddled sound, it's too bassy when i select MM, and it's too crunchy when i set it to MC.

any other advice?

Grossly muddled bass is probably a sign of mistracking. If it can't be dialed out with antiskate or tracking force adjustment within the acceptable limits of the cart then there may be a fundamental mismatch between the weight spring system formed by the effective cart/arm weight and the cart compliance resulting in a resonance in the audible band. Two ways I've heard of people solving this. 1. buy a cart which better matches your arm, or 2. add some damping. Not tonearm vibration damping but arm cart spring response damping.

If you know the effective mass of your tonearm you can use the calculator at cartridge database to see a list of commercially available carts which put your arm cart resonance in the desireable range of around 8-13Hz. Low enough not to be audible. High enough to be fairly immune to record warps.

Damping can be very expensive if you don't already have it as you'd likely need to transplant an arm with it and the ones that have it aren't cheap.

In summary: You probably want to look at other carts. What tonearm does your table use?

+1 on the mistracking or setup error potential. Have access to anyone that owns a TT setup/test disc to check it out?