Ayre Phono P5xe settings low / Med / High ?

All things being equal, I feel that the low gain setting on your phono pre is the best choice.

5mV is about the upper limit for voltage output of a "modern" phono cartridge. Certainly you should use the "low gain" settings in your p5Xe. Be sure also, if you are inexperienced, that the cartridge resistive loading is set for 47K (which I believe to be the max value of load resistance available at the p5Xe input).

Use whatever sounds best to you. It will depend on the gain structure of the rest of your system ultimately.

Thanks, and yes the loading is set for 47k.
I will probably give the medium setting a go and see what happens. Appreciate the feedback.

Sarcher, In principle you are correct, but this cartridge ought easily to drive the Ayre to full output, even at its low gain setting. (I have owned one, and I used it with MM and MI cartridges in balanced mode.) Thus, there is little to be "gained", except more unnecessary gain, by using the higher gain settings (sorry for the terrible pun). There is a possible downside to using the higher gain settings in the Ayre; the Ayre itself might be overloaded by the output of such a high output cartridge at those settings. By the way, Rapogee, I strongly recommend you run the cartridge in balanced mode into the Ayre for optimum results. In other words, have your phono cables terminated with XLRs, or, better yet, switch to balanced XLR cables that have equal quality conductors for both phases of the signal. The cartridge itself is inherently a balanced device, and it will take care of the rest. That way, you will get the best that the Ayre has to offer, which is considerable.

What Lewm said. In my experience, gain matching between the phono pre and the cartridge is a vastly overlooked issue. Even a few dB of unnecessary gain can result in a sound that is edgy, harsh, and overall fatiguing. I'd start with the lowest setting and if it provides enough gain to get sufficient volume with a good rotation of the volume knob, leave it there. With an output of 5 mV, I have no doubt the lowest setting will be more than enough.

From the manual:)

Suggested gain settings are:
Cartridge Gain Gain to Out
Output Setting Bal/Unbal

> 3 mV Low 50/44 dB

1 – 3 mV Med* 60/54 dB

< 1 mV High 70/64 dB

Yes...the less you ask from a pre, the better the sound....its a balancing game. My cart is low output so I have to use more gain from the pre, but its worth it because I have a really good cartridge.