Hello all,
I have recently purchased a Cambridge Audio AXA35 (analog amp) to pair with a Q Acoustics 3020i. At this moment my audio sources are only a laptop connected to the RCAs Inputs on the Amp and a cheap Bluetooth receiver to pair with my phone. I understand that the DACs on both sources are crap at the moment but the issue I’m having is not related to the sound quality but to the volume levels.
To be able to hear anything at a reasonable sound level, the source volume needs to be at 100% (in the laptop or mobile), and the volume in the Amp needs to be at over 90%.
I would not assume that the speakers would be too hard to drive and based on all the reviews I checked, the amp should be good enough to produce a decent sound, but looking at the volume at over 90% makes me believe that something is not quite right…
Does anyone have any suggestion on why this is the case or what can be done to improve this?
I understand that I may need to get a better DAC but I’m afraid that if I get a DAC without any volume control that the situation will not improve. Am I wrong to assume this?
I have a raspberry pie, so I was thinking of getting a top hat for it to use as a DAC. Any suggestions?
Many thanks to all!