Good morning all!
Im very happy to report that the problem has been solved.
Thank you so much for all of your responses and suggestions again!
@alvinnir2 was crucial to me resolving my issue. It was a glaringly obvious misstep on my behalf when I hooked everything back up. While I was so focused on the issue being an input issue, it was all about the output. The Ref 5se is rather new to me and when I rearranged my components and reconnected, I reconnected my amp to the ‘record out.’ As soon as I read the response from @alvinnir2 when I awoke this morning, it hit me like a tone of bricks. I had disconnected everything before going to bed last night with the intent of working on a fresher brain this morning. Thank you s@alvinnir2 !
I am grateful for forums like this as there are so many awesome folks who take their personal time to share their experiences, wisdom, insights and opinions to aid in the betterment of the end user experience of others in their musical journeys. I thank you all for your contributions. As I sit here writing my response, I am blissfully enjoying some amazing music again. Cheers to you all and happy listening!
Best,
Scott