I am also curious about this.
I have the gain pots on my Cortese trimmed back to about the 2 o'clock position in order to be able to increase the volume on my Masseto to solve a very slight channel imbalance when the Masseto was at the absolute lowest setting on its dial. The Masseto seems to sound its best to me anywhere between the 10 and 12 o'clock position.
I, too, notice that the Shindo pre's dont increase volume in the same way as other pre's I have owned. They don't seem to get louder in some absolute sense but rather seem to ratchet up their intensity or juiciness, for lack of better terms. All in all, much nicer on the ears.
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