To their credit, I received a quick reply from Peachtree audio stating that there is no way to adjust the gain in the Nova Pre. They suggested Harrison Labs 12 dB in-line attenuators, which I purchased and waited to post until I had given them a try.
The attenuators have given me a little better control of the volume and do not appear to be affecting the sound in any way (I.e., I cannot hear any difference in the timbre of the music being produced with them in place vs not in place). Even so, the issue has not been completely solved in my opinion. The control is still a bit sensitive, but I am happy to live with it as it is now (I was really ok with it before and it is definitely better now).
It occurred to me during this investigation that "gain" may not be an appropriate word for the discussion at hand since I am mainly using the Nova Pre as a DAC with a volume control. I am not sure of the internal workings of the device, but I suspect there is "gain" taking place on the signal after the DAC. Regardless, the output voltage of the Nova Pre is a little hot for the Classe CA-101.
The attenuators have given me a little better control of the volume and do not appear to be affecting the sound in any way (I.e., I cannot hear any difference in the timbre of the music being produced with them in place vs not in place). Even so, the issue has not been completely solved in my opinion. The control is still a bit sensitive, but I am happy to live with it as it is now (I was really ok with it before and it is definitely better now).
It occurred to me during this investigation that "gain" may not be an appropriate word for the discussion at hand since I am mainly using the Nova Pre as a DAC with a volume control. I am not sure of the internal workings of the device, but I suspect there is "gain" taking place on the signal after the DAC. Regardless, the output voltage of the Nova Pre is a little hot for the Classe CA-101.