Problem with preamp volume control

I just had a long conversation with a CJ tech. He said that an attenuator is very feasible in the line stage but not in the phono stage.
He was very interested in getting me to buy a new CJ preamp.  So I don’t know if that had any influence on his advice. Basically he said get a new cartridge or a new preamp.
 

Antinn,

I had forgotten about those Benchmark settings.  Thanks, so much, for bringing that up.  It just might be the solution!

Al,

 Thanks, as usual, for your valuable advice.  Hopefully, the amp settings will do the trick.

Richard

P.S. to my previous post: If you are using RCA-to-XLR cables, rather than adapters, and you ultimately find it necessary to purchase Rothwell attenuators, my suggestion would be to replace the cables with RCA-to-RCA cables and use them in conjunction with inexpensive RCA-to-XLR adapters, such as this one.  But hopefully (and I suspect probably) the amp's adjustable gain provisions will do the trick.

Also, regarding ...

He said that an attenuator is very feasible in the line stage but not in the phono stage.

To be sure it’s clear, the attenuators would not be used in either the line stage or the phono stage. They would be used at the inputs of the amp, as I described above.

Best regards,
-- Al

Using the lowest gain setting on the amplifier may also have subtle benefits for SQ overall.  That is without a doubt the first thing to try, IMO.