PreAmp Gain and Impact on Amp

4PM seems far but it is OK if you don't have much softer recorded CDs. I have level control jumpers on my Benchmark DAC1 in -10dB increments (0dB, -10dB, -20dB, -30dB). I found that 0dB (loudest) position gives me the best sound (vivid). I normally listen in 10-11 o'clock. Full power is at about 1-2 o'clock. If removing gain reduction resistors gives you better sound and you still have enough resolution when you listen at low volume then why not.

Question; if you increase the gain output of your preamp does this ease the workload on your amp(s)? If your preamp gain goes from 10db to 15 db then you should be able to adjust your volume control down to reach the same volume level at the listening seat. Does more gain in your preamp lessen the 'load' on your amps?

there's no "load" on your power amp if you have less or more preamp gain.
Each power amp has an input sensitivity that lets the user know what voltage level of input signal will give the max output power. The main idea here is to not feed the power amp with a very low voltage input signal that is trending towards the bottom end of the sensitivity of the power amp because below a certain voltage level the power amp cannot "see" the signal the preamp is feeding it. The power amp circuits are quite non-linear in that region & your power amp output can have high distortion. OTOH, you do not want to feed in a preamp signal with a very large voltage value such that the power amp output is trending towards is maximum power output level because, once again, the power amp circuits are non-linear in that region due to excessive signal amplitude thereby saturating (or trioding) the transistors. You want your preamp signal to be such that you are in the middle region of your power amp input sensitivity. Most of the time this happens to be in the 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock region of your preamp volume control. This also happens to be the sweet-spot for your preamp volume control circuit/potentiometer/resistor-ladder, etc. If you can, adjust your preamp gain accordingly.
Better yet is to adjust the gain of your CD player/computer HDD system (if you can) to get your desired level of SPL between the 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock region of your preamp volume control. It's always best to have gain as further up the chain as possible as you can set as high a SNR upfront. Then, as music signal proceeds to the preamp & power amp, the SNR only degrades as the other electronic components add their resp. noise floors & distortion components to the music signal. If you start off with a (very) high SNR, your overall SNR degradation at the power amp output will be minimized. FWIW.

Bombaywalla, I am Impressed.

If full up on your preamp is loud enough for you, it will not sound any better with more gain on the same preamp and only half up for the same volume as full up with less gain.

Cheers George

I also wanted to add but forgot, there is the same amount of dynamic headroom at half level as at full level on what I've said in the above post.

Cheers George