I have Carver tuner and just received a NAD preamp. For whatever reason the preamp really gets little volume when the tuner is selected as the source. Is it possible to put one of those little passive volume controls in line between the tuner and the preamp to boost the tuner’s output into the preamp? Thanks for your help.
To add gain, it would have to be an active device. Something like a line stage pre-amp. Does the tuner have any gain pots inside or on the chassis?
Thanks. Don’t see any output pots. No way that a passive device will raise the tuner’s output into preamp? Any suggestions?
Passive devices attenuate. Did you try the tuner into the NAD’s aux or other inputs? Does the NAD have any internal jumpers that control input levels?
A headphone amp with line outs can also be used. Ive (kinda) done this with a few Schiit HP amps(Asgard 2, Magni Heresy, Vali 2). I used them as a "gain stage" bw a Khozmo passive pre and an amp. There are two gain settings and a volume knob (attenuator/potentiometer) so you will easily be able to match levels. I maxed the volume knob and used the high gain setting on low efficiency speakers.
What makes you think the tuner level is too low? Are you comparing it to the output of another device like a CD player? Maybe the CD player has too much gain.
Like ably mentioned above, a passive volume control can only reduce volume, not increase it higher than it originally was. If you have to turn up the volume a bit for your tuner but not an unrealistic amount - that is probably normal and I wouldn't worry about it. Unless you have a preamp with an unusually low amount of gain, I cannot imagine that you have a problem worth worrying about. If you have to increase the preamp gain to the max and the level still isn't enough for your tuner, you probably have a problem somewhere. This might be a preamp without enough gain or maybe some other incompatibility.
Back when I had a separate tuner connected to a pre-amp it was always lower in volume than my CD/turntable/cassette components. That being said you might consider the Sys from Schitt Audio. It is a passive device and I'm not sure it would work for you application. Check it out at this link and maybe contact Schitt via email and ask if it is appropriate for your need. Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California
Counterpoint: passive devices can increase volume. Example: my Music First Audio pre-amp, which has a transformer winding ratio that gives + 6dB of gain. Resistor-based passive devices can only attenuate. (That being said, I wouldn’t recommend using a ratio of transformer windings to give you a ton of gain, I would only use them to step down, not step up. You would get a very weak current on your output of the transformer)
Make sure you are running the tuner without the noise and multi-path button engaged. I'd start there. Try a different input on the preamp as well.
There are Chinese made small output transformers that are designed to boost the signal of a mobile phone to give more signal into a Pre Amp. sorry I do not have a link, but search Alli Express or F/Bay. Cheers
@Ilusndweller suggested this to me and it works great. I’m blown away by the sound performance of the Schitt combo Sys passive with a Magni Heresy.