How do I reduce gain on my preamp?

change speakers or amp

You can insert a pair of Rothwell attenuators between the pre-amp and amp. Technically this does not reduce the gain of the pre-amp, but it does attenuate the signal that is input into the amp. Effectively it is the same result. It will require the volume control of the pre-amp to be set to a higher level to generate the same output volume at the speaker.

Enjoy,

TIC

Contact Audio Research as they may have a "resistor kit" to reduce the gain. The ARC LS5 MK III's gain could be changed between the nominal 12db and the higher 18db value with a pack of resistors. These easily replaced the existing ones on the PC board. And the cost was just a few $$ and a half hour of time. I suspect many ARC preamps could be changed this way so give them a call. If such a simple circuit change can be done, and you are not good with a soldering iron, any competent electronic technician should be able to do this for you.

Thanks Jafox....shoulda thought this ont before posting.
I called AR and they told me what values to change and faxed me a schematic. Thats customer service!!