Changed preamps. Seems like less power now?

I have an Anthem AVM-30 in my HT system and as Photon notes it does have .5 db increments, which means several clicks on the remote to get a significant volume change. This is nice if you're looking for subtlety but it does seem like you're really turning it up to get loud, and the volume control is a continuous type which also exaggerates this effect. It does look like that model doesn't have a lot of gain but as everyone says, if you can get it loud enough and it's still quiet and sounds good then you're fine.

Oh, and mine has an adjustable "power on" gain level (mines set around -30db) this might help get you started closer to your normal listening level.

Yeah. I like that feature. I did not know it was adjustable. Still going through the manual. The Volume range on this shows -80dB to +8.0 Odd. -30 is quite low, and I have to bring it up to -15 for decent volumn, and that's with a 130W power amp. The -80 to -50 range almost seems inaudible to me. I use to have an Arcam that allowed you to change the increments, but I don't think this has that option.

Adjustable increments seems like a nice feature, haven't seen it in the Anthems. You may have adjustable input levels which will also affect your output, but it's more important to level match between inputs (if your signal's good you might use the tuner as a reference).

I would be worried if "0" wasn't loud - near as loud as you ever listen (that doesn't mean your system can handle "0", you be the judge of that.) I think you can expect the preamp to be within its capabilities at 0 (unless your input is very high which it doesn't sound like it is.) I regularly listen between -20 & -10, occasionally louder, rarely I've hit 0 and above (and when I do I'm not worried about my preamp).

Alright. So for Anthems, -20 & -10 is normal. I figured that if +8 was the Max, and the Min is -80, then -20 would be extremely loud, but I guess this is just how they are.

As others have noted, it could be the anthem has lower gain. It could also be an issue of the type of profile for the volume control (linear vs. logarithmic).

With regular potentiometers, it is actually preferrable to be working toward the higher range (less attenuation) because the two channels of the pot tend to track better. With stepped attenuators, this is less of an issue, and often the steps are wider near the top and bottom of the range, which makes it harder to find an ideal position.

As long as you can get your system as loud as you want with the Anthem, I don't see any real problem with having to operate the volume control at the higher end; this may actually be an advantage.