"Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question)

Just thought I’d ad my two bits as I have a lot of experience with the SLP-05. I do not work for Cary Audio. First off avanti1960 is correct. The two “Balance” controls, essentially extra dual mono controls, can be turned down so you have plenty of range on the main volume control. If you want to be able to adjust the main volume control to 12 o’clock, then set it there and adjust the two balance controls until you find a comfortable level. This accomplishes the exact same thing as buying an external set of volume controls.
The main volume control in the SLP-05 is a motorized Alps Blue Velvet control. Fairly good controls. The other two balance controls are pretty cheap crap controls. And yes the quality of the controls will affect the sound quality. I know some people have wired past these two controls to get them out of the circuit and yes, it is noticeable. In the old days we used to be able to get the Tokyo KO-ON Denpa stepped attenuators which were fantastic and yes expensive! Khozmo now makes some really nice controls.
A poor quality control will add grain, noise and cause a loss of the overall clarity and smooth character of you sound, etc.

Another thing that can be done is to get the ultimate upgrade that Cary offers. One part of the upgrade is that they change the plate and cathode resistors which reduce the gain some and also improve the sound. There is a lot more done but this part is of interest to you. This upgrade is totally well worth it and dramatically improves the sound quality. I would also have them wire passed the two balance controls unless you really need them. Or purchase two really good controls and install them in place of the two inside the SLP-05. I don’t recall the value of the two but it is stamped on the casing of the controls.  I know the main Alps is 100K.

Just like any part in the circuit or a cable, etc.  The controls make a difference. Now whether your system can reveal that or you’re ears can hear that difference is where you draw the line on how far to go and how much to spend.  Don’t forget, if you add external volume controls that also means more cables.

I'm also a new owner of the Cary SLP-05, and I set the left & right gain of the unit to a relatively low level (around 3 o'clock position).

My power amp is the Parasound JC5, which also has a pair of input gain dials.  Parasound recommends to set them to the max.  That does seem to make the amp sound better when I was using my JC2 as the preamp.   So I kept it that way.

I did try to dial back the JC5 input gains, and max out the SLP-05 gains.   To me it sounds better with the JC5 at max, so I decided to dial down the SLP-05.  Even at the 3 o'clock position,  my max listening level rarely go past 10 o'clock on the volume control of the SLP-05.

Wow, thanks for all the input, everybody!   I need to sit back & digest it.

@harpo75   I actually did get this unit with The Ultimate Upgrade installed.

As far as the two balance controls, I have kept them maxed out for normal listening and in the past, with my SLP 90, I did find them useful for troubleshooting.  As far as having them taken out of the circuit, in '99 I bought my previous preamp, the SLP90, second hand from a dealer.  He told me it had been "hot rodded by Dennis Had."  What that meant was that, among other things, the balance control pots had been taken out of the circuit.  That SLP90 was a huge sonic upgrade for me, but I thought that most of the "hot rodding" that had been done to it made it totally unresellable (except to some dummy like me) so I called Cary up & spoke to Kirk Owens about undoing some of the mods.  As far as the defeated balance controls went, Kirk told me that in theory (or on paper) there was some signal path degradation, but whether it could be heard was another matter.  Sooooo, I did wind up having him put balance controls back in, and on the receipt for the work that he did, he referred to them as "improved quality L & R balance pots."  (And I did always run them maxed out, but I did, quite often, find them useful for troubleshooting.) 

Hey @immatthewj, I didn’t realize you’re the OP.  I think you had commented on the other Cary thread that I started.  Anyway, I just had an email exchange with Cary support about this gain issue.  Apparently they have a service called Gain Reduction on the unit to lower the gain by 6db.  It costs $140 plus parts and labor. I decided I’m not going to do that, but it’s an option for you to think about.  

@xcool thanks for the info on that.

Could you clarify

It costs $140 plus parts and labor.

I assume that is a typo, but maybe not? $140 + shipping maybe?

Anyway, have you been able to just fine tune with the big knob to find your "sweet spot"? Personally, I am thinking I can get the volume where I like it (although it does get there fast) but I just wasn’t understanding for sure whether the same volume would have a better sonic quality at, for example, 6-oclock versus 3-ocklock. Out of curiosity, did Cary Support offer anything on that part of the subject?

And how did you make out with the SLP05 malfunction you had posted about?

EDIT:  OOPS on that, I just reread your reply and I see you are using the left & right input level pots to compensate with.