Attenuator recommendations

Tbooe

You will find that you are not using any of the gain your two pre-amps have. The main difference between the two will be how much each pre amp attenuates the signal at the volume control.

I would suggest buying the endler attenuators and you can use them
- at your pre amp input where the CD plugs into or
- at the amp inputs to lower the overall gain of the system.

They also work very well as a passive volume control and you can determine if you like your pre amp sound or just the sound of you amp direct.

Thye endlers were transparent to the signal, the rothwell is not.
- between your

Ok, I have chilled out. I guess I haven't been very clear in my responses. Downunder has said it best and I will try his approach.

The stated gain of the preamp is the gain with the volume control all the way up. You never use it this way so the maximum gain doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you put in a preamp with 1,000 dB of gain. I should not have said you have too much gain. I should have said that your amp already has enough gain to drive your speakers to uncomfortable levels.

In your sytem the output level of the preamp is less than the output level of the CD player. In other words, the preamp is always attenuating the signal.

You don't need a pre amplifier, you need a pre attenuator.

The problem is not the maximum gain of the preamps, it is that the amount of attenuation is not enough.

courtvision21, yes I have adjusted it all the way down (-40) and the fixed output is off.

downunder and herman...now that makes sense. thanks for the patience and helping me understand what is happening. Your responses are very similar to a what BAT just told me about their volume control. Again, thanks.