Stageline N, am i doing something wrong?

Hi

Long time absent, i came back into the Naim game after more than a decade with a s/h Nait5 and Stageline N. The Nait is a real "funplifier", i goes incredibly well with my Metrum Dac and Totem Dreamcatcher speakers.

Vinyl playback through the Stageline though is a real disappointment. The Stageline is fed the signal from a Grado Reference Platinum2 (from a Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S), is powered by the Aux2 input of the Nait (black Snaic) and sits far away on its own shelf. The sound from the Stageline does not come close to my digital frontend and is really miles away from my former analog frontend via a croft integrated phono. It lacks sparkle, lacks massively on bass extension, is uninspiring and pale and finally also kills the PRaT. I find myself listening for hours over my digital frontend, whereas i stop listening to vinyl after about 15-20 minutes...

It's a 3 years old s/h unit, certainly run in, and i let it warm up a few days without noticing any considerably improvements. Am i missing something here? Is there such a severe mismatch with the cartridge? Is the Stageline broken? (even though the sound doesn't sound technically broken)

Cheers.