I don't have a 326, but I do have a Ref. No. 32, and I believe they are the same except for the use of separate chassis and a better power supply for the No. 32.
I have the phono stage card which is a user installable item. It is designed so that the remote control will also control the functions of the phono stage. By remote, you can set loading, gain and channel balance. This channel balance is independent of the overall system balance so one can account for unequal output from the two channels of cartridges (small imbalances are almost inevitable). There might be other setting options (such as subsonic filters), but I don't use them so I cannot recall. The only "issue" is that when toggling through changes, such as with loading, there is a slight time delay (the unit mutes to prevent noise bursts) that makes instantaneous comparisons a bit hard to do.
The sound of the phonostage is okay, certainly justified by the price, but it is not up there with the very best. There is a slight flatness (dynamically speaking) and the sense of complete harmonic structure and texture is not quite up to some better standalone phono stages (I currently use an Emotive Audio Epifania linestage and Viva Fono phonostage, which are better, but cost WAY more than the Levinson).
Still, in terms of value, convenience, flexibility it is hard to beat the built-in Levinson phonostage if you already own their linestage.
I have the phono stage card which is a user installable item. It is designed so that the remote control will also control the functions of the phono stage. By remote, you can set loading, gain and channel balance. This channel balance is independent of the overall system balance so one can account for unequal output from the two channels of cartridges (small imbalances are almost inevitable). There might be other setting options (such as subsonic filters), but I don't use them so I cannot recall. The only "issue" is that when toggling through changes, such as with loading, there is a slight time delay (the unit mutes to prevent noise bursts) that makes instantaneous comparisons a bit hard to do.
The sound of the phonostage is okay, certainly justified by the price, but it is not up there with the very best. There is a slight flatness (dynamically speaking) and the sense of complete harmonic structure and texture is not quite up to some better standalone phono stages (I currently use an Emotive Audio Epifania linestage and Viva Fono phonostage, which are better, but cost WAY more than the Levinson).
Still, in terms of value, convenience, flexibility it is hard to beat the built-in Levinson phonostage if you already own their linestage.