Hi Tfjm, the Plinius, as a solid state amp, gave more detail and bass than the previous phonostages I mentioned. It has adjustable gain and loading. I use mostly low gain even though my cartridge is a Moving coil Shelter with .4mv output. This is not super low but I have the opposite problem from you in that if I use high gain I have very little play to use in the volume adjustment. I generally would only use one quarter adjustment but have more range to use with low gain.