Is it possible for a record to be too loud?

Atmasphere,
It surely cannot be true. Perhaps you or Al can elaborate, but overloading is a function of the cartridge's output AND the phono stage's gain/sensitivity setting, isn't it? Theoretically, you could probably overload with a low output MC cart if you have a gain mismatch large enough. From your post, it sounds like you can only overload with MM carts.

The issue is can a cartridge of 1.05 mV or so overload a phono section set up for a low output moving coil cartridge.

1.05mV is about 6 db more than 0.5mV which is considered low output. That represents a doubling of voltage from 0.5mv to 1.05mV.

If that 6 db is making a difference in the overload of the phono section its overhead is poor. That is the long and short of it. In our phono section which works with 0.2mV, it cannot be overloaded by a high output 5mV cartridge.

55db is on teh low side as low output moving coil phono sections go; we have 60 db (I am of the opinion that you don't need that much gain if your circuits are low noise).

So I really think that you need to look at loading and the setup of the cartridge in the arm- its very likely that some other factor has been overlooked. IOW I am sure you are hearing something but overload of the phono section isn't (or shouldn't be) it.

Thanks for all the advice. I just purchased a long overdue copy of hi fi news and it checked out totally fine so I am pretty confidant that my set up isn't the issue and the issue has to be that particular cut on that record.

That all being said I am on the market for a better phono stage so if anyone has a suggestion with a variable gain or even more ideally one that is spec'd for this type of medium output MC I am all ears.

"The issue is can a cartridge of 1.05 mV or so overload a phono section set up for a low output moving coil cartridge."

The OP's phono stage has a stated sensitivity of 500 uV in for 300 mV out with an overload margin of 31 dB.

Any thoughts on what it would take in terms of mV at the input to overload based on those specs?

500uV is 0.5 millivolts.

Overload is 31 db above that. That would be about 17.75 mV at the input at the time of overload.

If the phono stage doesn't overload until 17.75 mV then that should not be an issue as a 1 mV cartridge is probably maxing out around 10-12 mV on peaks.

What about the phono stage overloading the preamp ahead of it? Seems that is a not an unusual occurrence when high output cartridges are paired with high gain phono preamps.