Question:

My output is very low with everything turned up on my amp and input source.  Why is this happening, and what can I do about it?

​Answer: 

Most likely you are connecting a consumer line level input source to our amplifier.  Consumer line level sources are typically rated at -10dBV, or 0.316Vrms.  Unfortunately this is not enough to properly drive amplifiers in many situations.  

Most amplifiers are designed to work with professional devices that provide line level input of at least 0dBu (0.775Vrms) to +4dBu (1.228Vrms) or even higher.

Please check for an Input Sensitivity setting on the amplifier.  If there is a 0.775V setting it will be louder than the 1.4V setting that may also be present.

It's also possible you may have connected your input wiring to the amp incorrectly, which is relatively easy to do if you have to strip RCA cables to insert them into a Euroblock connector.  Please verify your input wiring using the connection guide found in the amplifier's manual.  For example, if you have wired a headphone output to a balanced input on the amplifier, this will produce a thin sound with low volume.  This is because the Left and Right from the headphone jack are cancelling each other out.  The sound will usually lack vocals and bass.  It may sound correct when listening to a source with the audio panned left and right, such as early Beatle albums. 

Assuming your input wiring is correct, you can use a preamp to boost the input signal before it reaches the amp.  Most professional mixers will act as a preamp for this purpose.  Alternatively, on our amps that have a configurable DSP, you can add band-pass gain via its crossover settings.  This may increase the noise floor of the system and be less desirable than boosting the signal via a preamp.​​