Not ENOUGH GAIN

I will ask you the obvious, is the preamp new to the system? Have had any other preamps prior to this one hooked up to the Anthem? I find it difficult to velieve that the Anthem has'nt got enough gain. Also I own VR2 speakers, and drove them comfortably with 40 watt and 60 watt tube amps. What is the sensivity of the VR3s?

Mechans,Yes the pre is new to the system,I have had many different preamps in my systems like counterpoint,audio research,thershold,a vintage 1970s hk 402 which also worked very well,always had tons of volume with each one. My vons are 87db I also have a cary rocket 88 tube power amp 20 watts class a or 40 ab never a problem.The anthem is not the problem it has tons of power,it is the transcendent,I have readed alot were these pres have to much gain in alot of systems not so in mine.Would like to know if there is an ajustment I can make in the preamp itself.The preamp really does sounds great, best I have had in my system yet,any help to this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Maxwell

The Transcendent grounded grid preamp uses 12au7's (gain of 20) at all stages, one of the lowest gain tubes in the 12??7 range.
You could change the input tube first for a 12at7 ( gain of 60)and see how you go. These 12at7's are interchangable with the 12au7 as are 12ay7's (gain of 40).

Cheers George

Your Anthem A2 is spec'd at 29db gain, with input sensitivity of 1.5v. The Grounded Grid preamp is spec'd at 12db gain, so you have a combined preamp/amp gain of 41db -- if anything, a bit on the high side. And the von Schweikert VR3 are 87db/w/m efficient. The only way you can have a problem is if your source has unusually low output (considerabily lower than the normal 2V out on CD players), or if there is a gain constriction in either your preamp or the input stage of your power amp, or your power amp output stage is not fully functioning, or there is something unusually wrong in the speaker crossover dramatically sucking power. Or the preamp has an unusually shallow taper. You're not lacking gain -- if anything you have surplus gain to scrub off.

Phil