Attenuator recommendations

Tboooe, adding an attenuator to your system isn't "wrong", it's just inelegant. You have a really fine collection of components and you should try to get the system right rather than kind of get it right and then apply what is effectively a band aid solution. Just my opinion.

Tboooe,

Did you try decreasing the input gain on the BAT preamp (the one that is causing the music to be too loud even at the lowest volume setting)? Most if not all preamps have an input gain setting that can be adjusted up or down. So if it was set at zero, decrease it to -6 or more until you find a reasonable loudness. Just make sure you are decreasing the input gain that your cd player is connected to. That should do the trick. You will find that your volume knob will have more room to move instead of being stuck at volume setting 1 or 2 and the music is already too loud.

courtvision21, yes I have tried adjusting the BAT's "Relative Volume" for the cd input. It did make a difference though I find I am stuck at the 2-3 volume setting. I have tried another cdp that outputs 1.7v and the volume from the BAT is still too loud. Not sure what to do now...

The answer is obvious.

YOU HAVE TOO MUCH GAIN !!!!!!!

Please provide your address and I will come over and beat you over the head with the "you have too much gain" stick.

The overall gain of the components you have chosen is too high for your speakers.

You need to choose components that are a better match for your speakers or get speakers that are less efficient.

It is a system. I hate to be rude but you seem to have trouble grasping that concept.

herman...chill out dude...explain me this:

my classe gain is 14db
the bat is 17db

perhaps I am understanding but I cannot imagine that a 3db difference in gain would result in the huge difference in volume I am hearing...