Einstein The Tube users...help

As for my amps, they have 26db gain and an input impedance 22K0hm.

From the PS Audio website:
"No tube preamp should be asked to drive an input impedance of less than 30K..."

Take it for what it's worth, but I've just gone through the same thing as you are. We all know tube preamps can work with SS amps, and yet yours is in need of a gain reduction, simple as that. If you try out other preamps that do not have gain adjustability, you are likely to encounter the same issue. Thankfully, it's an easy fix.

I drive my X250.5 with 22kohms balanced input impedance with my ARC LS-25 linestage that has 650ohms bal output impedance and 6db(low), 12db(med) and 18db(high) gain.
In medium gain setting which I use, there are no issues with volume.

My suspision is that the Einstein preamp has very limited volume steps and that is what the problem is, along with its relatively high gain of course, which is typical for any tube pre.

I had a tube preamp with 75 volume steps and had the same issue. Once I switched to a preamp with 104 steps, the problem is solved. A Sonic Frontiers preamp I tried in my system had 191 steps and it was the finest volume adjustment, despite its high gain.

My bet is that a preamp with a nice volume control will have no such control issues as too soft->too loud jump in volume.

BAT 51SE has 140 steps in 0.5db increments. Has 17db out gain, which is high, but with 140 steps there should absolutely be no problems with this unit driving the 22kohms amp. ARC REF-3, that has 11.6dB Balanced output gain(relatively low gain for a tube unit) with 104 steps of volum should be no problem either.

Audphile1, excuse me if my posts sounded argumentative. I didn't intend them to be. Mainly, I was concerned that Tboooe might give up on a stellar preamp before hearing it at its best, and admittedly, I've not resolved this issue in the manner you have suggested. Clearly, it will work.

Audphile1 wrote:

My suspision is that the Einstein preamp has very limited volume steps and that is what the problem is, along with its relatively high gain of course, which is typical for any tube pre.

Rhyno wrote:

the einstein doesn't have volume steps; its a continuous attenuator (not a ladder or shunt)

He ought to know. He owns one. Suggestions have been posted in response to your other question.

Boa2, I appologize if I sounded offensive.
Your posts were not argumentative at all. It is very informative to hear about how things integrate in someone else's system.

However, that quote from PS Audio does sound like BS, althouth you did say "take it for what its worth".
:)