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-

32

 

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