EMT JSD High Output - Charlie Byrd Direct Cut

If Pass is correct that the INT-150 has the headroom to handle 8mv, it's difficult to imagine a nominal 1mv cartridge inducing overload. That said, preamps can suffer problems beyond simple overload that can distort loud peaks, and the passage you described is ideal for challenging such problems.

Of course it could as simple as VTF being a hair too low for those particular (torturous) passages. Before going crazy, trying bumping VTF up a hair.

It could also be that your tonearm in combination with the JSD resonates internally at certain frequencies. High amplitudes at such frequencies (or multiples thereof) can feed energies back into the cartridge generator... similar to the feedback loop when a microphone's gain is set too high. (Note: I am NOT talking about the generic arm/cartridge resonance test that people use mathematical formulae and test records to bring within the 8-12Hz range. That simplistic test has nothing to do with this problem.) Arm/cart acoustic behaviors can be tested by doing something as simple as sliding a sliver of paper between the cartridge body and headshell. This tends to change a cartridge/tonearm interaction significantly.

Many possible causes. Much experimentation in your future.

Lower the gain on your phono pre. The EMT has twice the output of your AT.

The Pass is ok and the tonearm cartridge combination too. I tested a headphoneamp at the outputs of the Audia. The Charlie Byrd song is played absolute fine. I connect a Focusrite Firewire Interface to the Audia Pre Outputs with XLR cables. This audio interface accepts +16dBu. It clips a little too!

I cannot lower the gain at the Audia Flight Phono. So i can only buy a quieter cartridge, but i love the EMT.

OK, this record has the only piece of music that maked problems.