Preamp volume control

[G-Man]

I'd did some experimenting this weekend after posting. I tried controlling the volume exclusively with the Arome while the Lafons were wide open and the Monbrison set at 10:00-10:30. Wow! This is very intoxicating. Nice balance with a great deal of emotion. Thanks for prompting me to give it a whirl. I now understand Ken's earlier recommendation. Just make sure your preamp is turned on for about 10-15 seconds prior to switching on your amps; otherwise, you'll get a loud audible pop. I think you'll be impressed! My whole family has...

[HookEm]

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on this subject...
But, intuition tells me the amp should be "wide open" (nothing added in the signal path), allowing the preamp to control the output (after all, that's what a preamp should do, and do so "well/better").

Of course, playing with the amp's volume control would change the sound, so I suppose that would open the door to the listener's perception of what's best... But, at least in theory, if the system is "right", I'd expect "best" achieved with the amp "wide open".

HookEm