Almarg- Thanks for correcting the impedance. I'm looking at this a little differently. I'm thinking a 170W speaker should be at maximum power at well less than half volume level.
Ciphercomplete- Thanks for that info. And I think you hit the nail on the head. The 5V output should be driving the amp to full output well before maximum volume.
Mapman-I tried talking at normal volume levels and had no problem hearing.
Demianm- I agree. My amp should be playing louder.
Mafgan- I'm not looking for more volume, I'm just wondering why it's not there.
Daverz- I don't think there's a limiting feature anywhere. When I talked to W4S they didn't mention any.
Mapman- That might be part of it but I don't think it explains all of the discrepancy.
Face- I have balanced cables from W4S.
I took Russ69's advice and called W4S. I got kind of a conflicting answer. On the one hand the guy I talked to has the exact same set-up with speakers of similar sensitivity and he also has to turn his pre-amp up quite a bit to play loud. But on the other hand, he agrees that the 5V pre-amp output should easily overdrive the amp. So I am back at square one. Well, almost. Thanks to all of your help I have a better handle on what's going on. So thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.
Ciphercomplete- Thanks for that info. And I think you hit the nail on the head. The 5V output should be driving the amp to full output well before maximum volume.
Mapman-I tried talking at normal volume levels and had no problem hearing.
Demianm- I agree. My amp should be playing louder.
Mafgan- I'm not looking for more volume, I'm just wondering why it's not there.
Daverz- I don't think there's a limiting feature anywhere. When I talked to W4S they didn't mention any.
Mapman- That might be part of it but I don't think it explains all of the discrepancy.
Face- I have balanced cables from W4S.
I took Russ69's advice and called W4S. I got kind of a conflicting answer. On the one hand the guy I talked to has the exact same set-up with speakers of similar sensitivity and he also has to turn his pre-amp up quite a bit to play loud. But on the other hand, he agrees that the 5V pre-amp output should easily overdrive the amp. So I am back at square one. Well, almost. Thanks to all of your help I have a better handle on what's going on. So thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.