Bryston owners

I use both on my 2.5 SST 2. My Luxman CL 38U-SE has only RCA inputs and no HT pass through. So I use the RCA's for that preamp. For movies I use balanced cables for my Krell Showcase. All I have to do is hit the switch behind the amp to activate either system.

(((I find that I have to turn the volume knob to around 3 o'clock for the same volume I had with the BP25 and 14bsst which was at 1:00. Both using unbalanced with the higher gain settings. Is this normal?))))

It's actually an advantage that you are higher up on the Volume control.
 VCs sound better when they are almost out of the system.
By you having to go higher its almost out of the system as an influence of less noise better sound.
   Best JohnnyR

Ok thanks for the responses.

At present I run my 7B3's unbalanced.. Only because my single ended interconnects are superior to the balanced interconnects I have.. Or so they seem more pleasing to my ears anyhow.. 
But I do run balanced from dac to pre amp...

Running a pair of Thiel 2.7s with a Bryston 4BSST2. 
I've used several different preamps, including two with balanced outputs.  Since there's only a  short 30" distance between the preamp and the 4B. I couldn't discern any difference between balanced and unbalanced; however, that might not be an ideal setup for checking, as my speakers are 26' away from the 4B, necessitating some long speaker cables. 

If I had to separate the preamp from the amp by any appreciable distance, I'd certainly use balanced.

Thanks for the response. The 14b3 sounds better than I imagined. I have the BP17 cubed. One question on it. I find that I have to turn the volume knob to around 3 o'clock for the same volume I had with the BP25 and 14bsst which was at 1:00. Both using unbalanced with the higher gain settings. Is this normal?

We connect all of our Bryston amps using the balanced connectors for practical reasons. With the large number of gear we have in close proximity to each other, the environment can be pretty noisy and balanced connections are necessary even for short cable lengths.

Another thing to consider is if there are differences between the unbalanced and balanced outputs of your preamp?