Adding Placette for finer volume adjustment?

Thanks for the quick advice. I talked to the preamp designer and he said there is nothing he could do to the preamp internally that would not negatively affect the sound, and he suggested I try the attenuators (rothwells and goldenrods, which did not work out for me).

Thanks Pubul for the Placette advice, I may just pick up a used one to try it.

The reason I'm going to this trouble is that the sound of this preamp is so unbelievably good it transforms my setup here to something great. There is something very special going on here. It's actually hard to describe. It is real magic, with rounded natural no-fatigue truth that is spellbinding. I'm actually shocked at what this preamp is doing. All with my little Cremona Auditors. And actually, the gain thing depends on the recording, and if I'm lucky, the level is OK. But on some CDs, I can't get the right level & it's frustrating.

Did you try the Endler or EVS attenuators? I started with the fixed goldenjacks and they helped. You basically get 2 volume controls when you add the adjustable attenuators. I don't need the Endlers since I got the EVS. Send me a message if you are interested in them. Less $$$ than a Placette and you can easily re-sell them if they don't meet your needs.

Tell us, what is this mystery tube preamp?

Feel free to PM me for more info or to discuss this if you feel like it.

By the way, I do use the Lightspeed Attenuator which is the best passive I have used - including TVC AVC and both Placette RVC and buffered, but I did not recommend that of the bat since you really have to get the impedances right and I think Placette might be easier to deal with in that regard. But Endlers and EVS are probably a good approach as well, one less IC can't hurt:)