IMO, yes, it might be normal, but that doesn't make it likeable-desireable, as it's apparent in Rb's case.
I'm thinking that these modern day integrated MM stages are still adhering to the old MM standard, in which most MM Cartridges of yesteryear typically put out more like 4-5Mv, and not 2.5Mv
I personally wouldn't like this myself, and in fact have run into this problem, but a slightly differnt twist in which it was an MC Cartridge, and an incompatible Phono Pre.
Naturally no, one wouldn't want a Phono-Stage to be so hot, that you might clip, but still, a gross mismatch of gain to cause one to crank a volume control quite high, and then constantly have to remember 'Oh, I have to turn down my volume, otherwise I'm going to get a nasty, shocking surprise", IMO is a hassle.
There is probably some way that you might be able to have the gain increased in the Phono Stage, and the other options are obvious... switch to a different, higher output Cartridge, or Phono Stage-pre-amp that has better gain adjustability.
Mark