Need more volume control for desktop system

I set up a desktop system consisting of:

TEAC AI-501DA Integrated Amp - 30w into 8 ohm.
TEAC PD501-HR DSD/CD Player
Audience The One Speakers - 84 dB. 8 ohm.

The sound is wonderfully musical and cohesive for such a nearfield system (literally 2 feet from me). But here’s my problem. Well, two actually:

1. The sound becomes too loud for background listening almost as soon as turn the dial up from -60 dB (basically mute). I want to have more volume range for low-level listening. I thought matching a smallish power output of 30 watts with a relatively inefficient speaker (84dB) would help me achieve this. But no. Is there a way to get more volume attenuation at lower sound levels, besides buying a bigger desk and moving the speakers farther away?

2. When I do turn the volume up from mute, I get more right channel sound than left. This is also evidenced by the power meters on the integrated amp (which look quite cool, BTW). It equalizes at about -38 DB on the volume dial. Is this normal, or a fault of the amp? I had another system that did the same thing, but at volumes too low to care.

As FYI, here is an image of the amp. It gets too loud for quiet listening as soon as I turn the volume from -60 to -43 dB, which is just one step on the dial.
http://audio.teac.com/content/images/universal/product_detail/891/large/ai-501da-b_user.jpg