Hi rt. Welcome to AOS.
Nice turntable the Manticore. The pioneer A400 is well liked too.
Your bass limitations could just be down to something as simple as your choice of turntable mat (or lack of).
Cables also, can influence the sound a fair bit too. I find silver plated copper conductors give a lighter, more forward balance, something like you describe. Maybe trying pure copper might help, especially from the source.
I'm sure you'll find plenty of info here.
Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.
(by the way can you please add a name to your profile instead of just rt. We like to operate on a name basis here, it adds to the friendliness )
It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!