VAC owners, sound off

I surmised the same thing. Outside of impedance matching, is there any other specs to check between pre and amp for compatibility before rolling the dice?

Impedance and gain. Gain will dictate how quickly things get loud in relation to how far you turn your preamp's volume control. Basically, if things get loud with only a quarter turn of the knob, then you have too much gain. Too little gain is almost never an issue.

don't know if that contributed to the issue in this case, but gain was exactly as you described -- loud at about a quarter way or less on the dial. Is there a spec to determine if gain on a pre will match up well with your amp?

Sometimes it's referred to as output gain (and input gain on the amp). Sometimes it's spec'd by output and input sensitivity.

Gain would not be the cause of the issues you described.

Generally, preamps don't require more output gain than about 12dB, although most have output gain of 18dB - 25dB depending on the unit. Gain is easily adjusted on a preamp by the manufacturer (if required).

Thanks Tvad. You're an asset here.

Did you mention Audio Horizons in particular because you think it will better suit my needs or because they are a company with a 30 day? (or both)