Is a user able to impact the range of volume available from the AV2?
I have been using the AV2 sending the front channels through an NAC52 and have had plenty of volume available from the front channels (with the volume on the 52 set close to 12 o'clock). This week I have reconfigured to use only the AV2 as a preamp and I was surprised to find that I can turn it up all the way to 99 and feel like it should be able to go louder.
I'm not trying to blow out my hearing. I just find that this is far short of what I am used to having available. Normally I'd play a source through my 52 with the volume set at a maximum of 9 to 10 o'clock to get plenty of sound. On the AV2 I can turn it up all the way and still be listening comfortably.
I start to wonder if I've missed something.
I noticed a prior post by David Dever mentioning that a volume setting of 87 could be considered equivalent to older Naim volume settings of near 12 o'clock. I don't get the sense that I'm getting equivalent volumes. Anybody found that they can adjust the volume range available on an AV2. That would be something I could check to verify that I'm using full output.
Thanks.
Mark

This is not a fault of the unit.

You could adjust the speaker levels in the speaker menu to give out a higher relative level, but bear in mind the AV2 is a 5/7 channel AV pre-amp, not a dedicated 2 channel device.

Mark,

I play DVD's generally at around 35-45, TV at around 25-30 and CD's (when I've played with them through the AV2) at around 20-25.

Once tried to play quite high when my neighbours were out - 70 gave me ringing in the ears for about 2 hours afterwards.

Front channels go via a 282 - I won't go through the whole cabling set up as it would take too long to describe suffice to say there's a mix of 2 channel and 5.1 going through the system.

Steve.

quote:

I can turn it up all the way to 99 and feel like it should be able to go louder.

Is there a specific source that you find requires a significant amount of gain (e.g., phono)?

I've heard similar observations from NAIT5 / NAC112(x) owners, which, as the AV2 (stepped differential gain), use a different volume circuit (resistor ladder) than a typical two-channel preamp (volume + balance pots). This could be a bit of "conditioning", too, inasmuch as we often correlate a visual reading of the knob to a specific listening level (with no such feedback on the AV2's rotary encoder).

And, did you notice a difference in sound quality from AV sources when you re-configured the system?

David -
The only source I had connected after the reconfiguration was the DVD player. I played a cd for a few minutes but mostly played a movies to support setup. The cd playback was a little louder than the DVD playback but I don't find that to be surprising.
What I did find surprising is that I have much more volume available when playing the front channels through my NAC52 (with the 52 set just under 12 o'clock) than I have available through the AV2 alone. With the 52 set at 12 o'clock and the AV2 set in the 40s to 50s I have plenty of volume but when using the AV2 alone I was setting the AV2 much higher and could have comfortably wanted more volume. I can't take time to revisit this properly until Sunday so I'll have to follow up more later.
Thank you.
Mark

Unity-gain on the NAC52 is about 11:30 or so; you were probably getting an additional 2-3 dB of gain from the internal circuitry.

av@naim's suggestion of adjusting the trims is viable inasmuch as these are simply "soft" levels which increase the digitally-controlled (analog) volume.

If you are using active DBLs, too, it's possible that the trim pots (all six) in the SNAXO may be set or calibrated lower than normal (this was not unusual in the "olive" days), which would of course require more volume from the AV2 (albeit less noticeable on the NAC52).