Which is better, gain in phono stage or pre amp?

My opinion is that if you're running the level control of your line stage only a little open, you're risking overloading its input stage with the HIGH output of the phono stage. I'd use the phono stage's low-gain setting.

PS. It's a 'moderate-OUTPUT' cartridge, not 'moderate-gain'. Gain stages, not cartridges, have gain (= voltage amplification). :-)

typically you are looking for the least 'noise'. try turning up the volume with the arm raised. which combination of phono stage gain and preamp gain is the most quiet?

at the various gain settings of your phono stage; are there variations in the clarity and transparency? is the inner texture better? dynamics? tonal balance? soundstage? noise is only one issue.

i used to own the Aesthetix Io which had adjustable gain all the way up to 80db. i found that it's noise became excessive over about 66db......so i kept it under that level. (to be fair to the Io, which i loved, i'm told that tube rolling reduced this noise considerably).

personally, i currently use a resistor based passive pre (Placette RVC balanced) and the Lamm LP2 Delux (57.5 db of gain) phono stage with my vdH Colibri XCP cartridge (.85mv output). i find that this combo puts my typical listening right in the middle of the gain range of the Placette.

i also own the Koetsu RSP II (.2mv) and the vdH Colibri XGW (.65mv) and they both work fine in my set-up (although the Koetsu is on the edge of it's ideal gain envelope in my system).

for most pre's unity gain (the least attenuation) is the most quiet......although the Lamm LL2 should be particularly linear at any setting (assuming it's like the L2 which i have had in my system).

there is no one answer to your question.....except maybe that any reduction of noise in amplification will yeild benefits of additional musical message. in fact, i can say that as you lower your noise floor in all parts of your vinyl system you will continue to reap the benefits.

there's lots of music in those grooves.

Oops, you're right, I meant output not gain. Thanks Mike and Jeffrey for the helpful input!

Jyprez, in your situation with a SS phono section and a tube preamp, I'd say you are doing the right thing already.
The SS phono section is generally quieter than most tube phono sections when High Gain is selected, because there is no tube noise. You can use all the gain you want in the Plinius phono section. The Lamm preamp is tube, and tube input sections generally are very forgiving of any overload on the inputs. Also, the tube preamp may have some tube noise if you have to turn it up high.

So, your combination of high gain in the SS phono section and using less gain in the preamp, will likely give the least noise, and low probability of overloading the inputs of the preamp. Also, amplifying the very weak phono signals earlier in the chain typically gives less losses from lines, and connections, that can cause the very weak phono signals to lose low-level information before they get to the amplification stages.