Audible Ilusions Preamp

I sold an Audible 3A for the very problem you are concerned with...volume steps were too big at the low level positions. I too am interested in this question and an additional inquiry...does the Audible have problems with the stepped attenuators? Several sources have indicated that the volume controls began to "snap" with each change of position after a period of time...anybody have experience with this situation? It would be nice if AI has improved these areas...I thought that it was a great sounding preamp and the MC Gold phono board was outstanding.
Thanks!

I had a AI preamp and had to have the volume controls replaced with the new Swiss Elma volume controls (supposed to be much better), but they are still a stepped control. It is true that this is a high gain preamp and as such you may be limited as to how much play you have on the volume controls. If your CD player has an output higher than the standard 2v you may run into trouble. There would be no problem with this if the control was not stepped. My CD player had a standard 2v output and I could only go up to about 9 o'clock on the volume which is not very much range when you are dealing with stepped controls. That was the only drawback to the preamp. It is a very good sounding preamp for the money, especially if you are into vinyl.

I was not able to use the AI preamp in my home due to the large steps. I sold it to a friend who just loves it. It is very system and room dependent. I did own one of the original AI M3a's with continuous volume control for many years and was very happy with it. It is just a hair less transparent than the model with the steps but otherwise same character of sound.
Art