Expect a really quiet background and lots of dynamics and detail. It’s a really nice unit. I can’t say how it compares to the McIntosh, but in general a purpose built stand alone phono stage, especially of this quality is going to exceed one included in another device.
Reach out to Pass. If you can get the serial number, they can probably tell you if it is one of the older units with the different gain settings (if that’s a thing) and answer any other questions you have. I had some questions about mine which I purchased second hand and they were very helpful.
