Audiophilepure

That’s not to say that some trial and error isn’t still worthwhile. PE mode tends to work best with lower‑impedance cartridges, and not every design will be an ideal match. With the 33Ω Denon DL-301 II, set to PE high as the manual recommends based on its specs, I detected a higher noise floor and what felt like too much gain with an in-your-face sound. Dynavector suggested backing it off to the medium setting (which entails moving just one jumper per channel, a ten-second operation) and the noise floor not only dropped but music had a much greater sense of ease and refinement at the expense of some dynamic impact. But some higher frequencies now seemed oddly set back spatially, with cymbals seemingly ten feet behind the drum kit. So I reverted to standard mode: in this case, 470Ω with 60dB gain. The sound wasn’t quite as ripe but it was more balanced and accurate. Bingo. 

The bottom line is, guidelines are guidelines, and the Phono Enhancer setting that sounds best to you is the right one, even if that means not using it. Still, it feels like getting a second phono stage for free. It even makes me wonder if there might be a market for a simpler, MC-only P75 that runs strictly in PE mode; users would only need to connect the cables and ground wires, then perhaps use a toggle switch on the front panel to select high, medium or low. Sounds dreamy to me – especially considering Sutherland’s TZ Vibe, the most affordable name-brand transimpedance preamp I can think of, sells for $1,600. I can’t speak to how the two compare sonically, but in purely practical terms, you could buy the P75 Mk4.1 for $980, treat it as a dedicated transimpedance unit, and still keep $620 in your pocket.