Voice distortion on LP playing

What other equipment are you using? Are you sure you've got a phono stage engaged in there somewhere?

I think a new cartridge would be in order.
There is no "special" wire for vocals.

And you've plugged it into the phono input, right? And vocals sound just fine when playing CDs?

IF so, then I agree the next step is to try a different cartridge.

Tracking force?

Cartridge alignment?

Anti skate adjustment?

Dirt on the stylus?

It seems that way, does it not. However, in practice the problems seem to focus themselves on the voice. They can all be checked out for free. If you are going to do vinyl well, you need to learn about them.

Here's a good starting point:

http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ttadjust.html

Then:

http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=how%20to%20adjust%20phono%20cartridge&oq=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=3d04e930a01db91d&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=600

Sometimes a tiny ball of dust can collect on one side of the twin supports for the silicon stylus supports thus partially muting the vocals. Look very closely at the cartridge and be sure BOTH sides are seated the same on the pickup armatures and that there is no dust.

Hi Kenski, Absolutely everything would effect the music as well. There is no difference between the music and the voice anywhere in the audio chain. The only difference between the music and the voice is that our brains may be more sensitive to the voice.

As Arny said, check the basic setup, maybe before investing in a new cartridge (he left out "worn needle" though). Even if the cartridge is good, however, there is something to be said for a cartridge upgrade.

One of the problems with vinyl is that if you don't do it well, it often kinda sucks. Doing it well was required for simple enjoyment.

Vinyl is not like a CD player you just throw the disc in, and it works well.

If the singers sound like they're using helium, that implies that you're playing the records at the wrong speed. Are you sure you're not trying to play albums at 45RPM instead of 33 1/3 RPM? If that's not the issue and assuming that you're not in the UK, it's possible that the turntable is set to 50Hz and assuming you're in the U.S., the mains is 60Hz so it will play fast. When you replaced the belt, was there more than one slot to wrap the belt around? If so, one might be for 50Hz and the other for 60Hz. If not, there might be an internal switch.

If that's not the issue, you need to get a strobe disk and light. It's a little disk that you put on top of the turntable that has dots on it. When you use it in conjunction with a strobe light, the dots will appear to be standing still when the turntable is spinning at the correct speed. Some turntables have these built into the platter, but yours apparently doesn't.

Here's a link to a free turntable disk that they claim will work with ordinary tungsten light: http://www.vinylengine.com/strobe-discs.shtml