Berning ZH-230 & Meridian 507 cannot control volume

[355F1]

Hello

I recently bought a Berning ZH-230 amd connected it directly to my Meridian 507 CD player using the preamplifier section of a McIntosh MA-5100.

According to my Mac owner's manual, page 11, "The preamplifier output is connected by the input selector switch to the tape output, the tape monitor switch, the balance control, the loudness compensation switch, and the first section of the volume control."

So I hooked up from the tape out RCA's of the Mac to the inputs on the ZH-230.

Turned the speaker switch on the Mac to "off" position and switch to the "tape monitor" position on that rocker switch but I cannot control the volume, it is very loud, no up, no down.

The volume of the Meridian MSR remote allows volume adjustment of preamplifiers or digital loudspeakers but I have no preamp and it does not respond.

 

[rayma]

The "tape mon" (tape output) jacks are at a fixed signal level.
This integrated amplifier has no line level output that is volume controlled.
Some other integrated amplifiers do have an EPL loop that allows access
to the internal volume controlled line level preamp outputs, but not the McIntosh.

 

[TG]

I'm not quite sure if this topic belongs to the Tubes forum, but MA-5100 (and virtually every other piece of audio equipment in the world) "tape out" isn't supposed to be affected by volume/balance/tone controls.

 

[rayma]

Correct. It is possible to use an external volume control in a box for this purpose,
connected between the "tape mon" jacks and the input of the power amplifier.

 

[355F1]

If I posted it on Solid State someone would be complaining too. Anyway, thanks chaps, I better get a preamp to add my turntable too.