Changed preamps. Seems like less power now?

I have an Anthem AVM-30 in my HT system and as Photon notes it does have .5 db increments, which means several clicks on the remote to get a significant volume change. This is nice if you're looking for subtlety but it does seem like you're really turning it up to get loud, and the volume control is a continuous type which also exaggerates this effect. It does look like that model doesn't have a lot of gain but as everyone says, if you can get it loud enough and it's still quiet and sounds good then you're fine.

Oh, and mine has an adjustable "power on" gain level (mines set around -30db) this might help get you started closer to your normal listening level.

Adjustable increments seems like a nice feature, haven't seen it in the Anthems. You may have adjustable input levels which will also affect your output, but it's more important to level match between inputs (if your signal's good you might use the tuner as a reference).

I would be worried if "0" wasn't loud - near as loud as you ever listen (that doesn't mean your system can handle "0", you be the judge of that.) I think you can expect the preamp to be within its capabilities at 0 (unless your input is very high which it doesn't sound like it is.) I regularly listen between -20 & -10, occasionally louder, rarely I've hit 0 and above (and when I do I'm not worried about my preamp).