Can a preamp's gain be lowered?

Rothwells[$80] are probably better but you may want to try this 1st @ $16 to see if they solve problem.Search E Bay
PERIPHERAL ATTN CAR AUDIO MATCHING LINE RCA ATTENUATOR

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The manufacturer or a modifier can do it internally/elegantly.

The Rothwells degraded the sound my system. They are available.

The Endler attenuators cost more, but the sound was much better in my system.

This is a FAQ. Preamp gain, especially tube preamp gain, is far too high for line sources when the speakers are of average (say 88 db) efficiency. The cure is to put resistance at the amplifier input. The easy way to determine the amount needed is to put a potentiometer (volume control) in the line and measure the amount of resistance required to make the preamp volume control usable. Any tech can do this for you. I got especially peeved when I had the amp and preamp from the same manufacturer and the same series (CJ in my case) and the mismatch was horrid. A switch and a few resisters at the power amp input is the fix which the manufacturer should provide.

in the case of tube preamps, what about using lower gain tubes?