need advice on audio gain pls. thanks

[milen007]

hi guys. i am wondering if i need a lower wattage amp or lower gain preamp.

my system would only be able to turn the pot to 8 oclock from 7 oclock. this is when i use a gain 6 preamp. this preamp is totally awesome. that i really like to keep

my power amp is 20 watt t-amp 2020.

so say if i change to 1 watt power amp. would my gain be lowered? so for example that i can turn my volume pot pass 12 oclock?

i can change the dac gain to half. is this a good option? would i compromise the sound quality?

thanks in advance

erwin

[h_a]

Hi Erwin,

your system has simply too much voltage gain.

Easy to fix that, simply lower dac gain by half. Wether that affects sound quality, no idea, I don't know your dac; certainly worth to try.

If you don't want to lower dac gain, build a 2 resistor voltage divider (like 2x 10kR in series, where you take the signal to the power amp from between the resistors). You could even use a high resistance potentiometer (like 100kR or so) and take the signal from the wiper for continous adjustment.

All easy to do and effective

[milen007]

thanks for the input

however i am still wondering if amplifier wattage had to do with the gain?

[AndrewT]

Hi,
amplifier wattage is independant of gain.

Your amplifier will need a certain level of voltage at the input to produce maximum output voltage. This is usually specified as sensitivity. Some amps give the signal required for 1W output or 1Vac output.

A pre-amp with 6times (+15.6dB) gain is high.

As an experiment feed your source into a 20k or 50k pot and feed the output of the pot direct to your Power Amp.
How does the volume control feel/operate.
If you like this, then a buffer with a gain of 1times would be suitable, instead of the 6times in your pre-amp.