Sylvania Exponent 4/40 Sound Issues

[cooljer]

I tried something off the cuff and was surprised by the reults. I ran the phono cable from the turntable to my ATUS AM150 mixer (magnetic phono input). Took the mixer output cables and plugged it into the AUX inputs on the Exponent. It sounded great, along with the bass and treble--no distortion. I then put the cable from the turntable straight to the AUX input on the Exponent. No distortion, but bass and treble was fair. What are your thoughts. I posted videos on YouTube with the distorted sound from the new cart and running with all Exponent internal cables. The second video shows the mixer hookup and the non-distorted sound. Y/Tube links:

https://youtu.be/_51NLbt21ho

https://youtu.be/6U6iTv3F-O4

Thanks.