And so this thread adds to the knowledge people can gain from the internet. I wonder what lessons different people will come away with. For my own part, I've only heard Pro-Ject turntables, whether in a person's home or at a showroom, that were set up by local dealers, and all of them worked flawlessly.My first NEW turntable - fresh out of the box - hum in left channel. Took a chance and never sent it back, figured the combined wisdom of the internets could not fail me (plus I think I recycled the box). Many rubber grommets, quarter turns of motor screws, replaced cables, swearing, frustration, and regret started me down a path of craiglisting whatever vintage TT I could find that looked interesting to replace this lemon. I think I have had about 8 turntables since then. . .
Another interesting item to me was reading that this was the OP's first NEW turntable. I never gave much thought to this, but maybe buying used is a more common occurrence these days. I'm old enough, and perhaps foolish enough, to have bought several new turntables over about a 40-year span: BIC 960, Garrard GT55, Thorens TD146, Linn LP12, Linn LP12 Cirkus edition, Stanton STR8-80X, Well Tempered Record Player, Denon DP-300F, Rega RP3. That's a lot of turntables, but buying them all was fun and made sense at the time. Sounds like the eight additional turntables the OP has acquired since the Debut Carbon have been fun, too.