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In the past, the Mark Levinson Nº26 and Nº26S preamplifiers offered a
single gain adjustment to effect this change globally; now this setting
can be optimized for each individual input. This helps to make the
Nº383 behave as though each input had the preamplifier section of the
integrated amplifier “all to itself.”
With some non-standard sources having outputs as high as 9 volts, the
last thing you need is gain in the line stages of the preamplifier. On the
other hand, an unusually low output source might need as much as
eighteen decibels of gain in order to drive the power amplifier section
to full power. Being able to customize this setting by input gives you the
flexibility you need to fully optimize your system.
The factory settings for gain are usually fine, at +6 dB for balanced and
+12 dB for single-ended inputs. However, should you hear distortion
(indicating an overly high input signal), you may want to reduce the
gain on that input by 6 dB or more.
To do so, navigate to the Gain= item under the input in question. (See
the menu system on page 29.) Then press enter to edit the item, and
adjust it using the volume knob (or use the volume buttons on the
remote). You will hear the changes of 6 decibels per step. Save the
change by pressing enter. (For more detailed information on how to
navigate to this item, see the point-by-point description under chang-
ing input names
.)
Similarly, if you have an unusually quiet source, try adding additional
gain before trimming the volume with the input offset adjustment.
Otherwise, you may find that you cannot turn up the quiet source as
far as it needs to go.
setting input offsets Once you are satisfied that the gain settings are appropriate to your
source components (and remember, the factory defaults are usually
fine), you may also adjust for any small differences between the vol-
umes of various sources by programming in a volume offset. For ex-
ample, if you notice that your tuner seems several decibels louder than
all your other source components, you can have the Nº383 automati-
cally turn the volume down by a certain amount when you switch to
the tuner. (It will also turn the volume back up by the same amount
when leaving that input.)
To set the input offset, navigate to the Offset= item in the menu (see
page 29), press enter to edit the item, and make the change with the
volume knob (or use the volume buttons on the remote). You can
listen to the changes as they are being made, making it easier to get the
setting you want. For more detailed information on how to navigate to