gain up

never in my dreams did i expect this outcome:

the system has TOO MUCH gain now..... !!

what do i mean by too much...??? well, the Nuforce DAC 9 gives out 8 volts from its balanced output!! a regular CD player / DAC typically has 2 volts from its RCA connection....

since using the adcom as a passive preamp, i've always desired more gain.....so much so that when ordering the D-100 power amps, i'd even requested for the high-gain version......

with the 2 volts from the MSB DAC unbalanced output and using XLR cables between preamp and power amps (6 dB gain), my regular volume setting hovered at 12 o'clock, sometimes even reaching 1 o'clock...... and i kinda liked it that way since volume pots usually do not track well at their lower range ....

now?

i am using XLR cables from DAC to preamp to power amps and it's tough to go past 9 o'clock.........

by then it's REALLY LOUD....

before bring it home, i wondered why is there a low gain version of the DAC 9 (2 volts RCA / 4 volts XLR) available on special order.....

the answer is...

it's possible to have TOO MUCH of a good thing.....!!