CAL Alpha produces brutal gain


My system is made of Jolida 302  integrated tube amp , Thorens TD160 + Cambridge preamp and a tablet for simple MP3 background music.
About four speaker sets :AR,Vintage Jamo, Tannoy and Joseph audio.
I recently got a nice CAL Delta transport and Alpha tube DAC.
Everything works BUT , the output coming from the CAL DAC is aggressive. Cannot turn the volume knob over 8 o'clock. I am usually at 9-12 with all others.
The sound is compressed.
I have a very warm relaxed 3d listening set . The Alpha tube DAC seemed like a natural partner...

Anyone experienced such a thing ? 
Too much gain? 
Any idea? 
*Replaced the cables (rca and coax)
** Changed the input channels
*** Checked bias
**** What's next?????
Tnx
ehollander

Showing 1 response by dekay

It's been a long time, but the first version of the Alpha came with a resistor kit (resistors to be added in order to lower the gain if needed).

Tried 2 versions of the Alpha as well as a Delta in old setups and do recall the higher gain of both the Alpha's, though it was not a problem with the amp (Audion Silver Night) which I believe used a passive preamp/volume pot section, or if not very little gain was involved.

Perhaps someone here can chime in on this as to the values and types of resistors spec'd?

Plenty of internal space on the Alpha, so it should be an easy DIY, or tech job.

DeKay