See the spec
https://www.meridian-audio.info/show.php?compid=183
Sensitivity: 775mV (adjustable to 78mV) (ie Line Level and down to 10% Line)
There should not be a level mismatch
topping D10 balanced for £100 or so. Various others from Soncoz etc. I imagine a decent pre-amp would not be much less.I'm surprised it costs £400 for a decent (i.e. transparent) DAC with balanced outputs these days. I have a ten-year-old DACMagic Azur with balanced outputs. The equivalent ought to cost peanuts today...
Balanced DACs typically output twice the voltage of single-ended DACs, so 4Vrms instead of 2Vrms. This gives +6dB more gain. Are you sure +6dB more SPL at your listening seat will be enough? There are some balanced DACs that output up to 10Vrms which would give +14dB more SPL but these are few and far between.I suspect I may be back to getting a balanced DAC and custom cable.
topping D10 balanced for £100 or so. Various others from Soncoz etc. I imagine a decent pre-amp would not be much less.
But I don't understand what the problem is. Does the OP really listen to the active speakers at full blast? If not what's the problem?
There are some DACs with such high output levels, that they could destroy a preamplifier input switch chip.There are some balanced DACs that output up to 10Vrms which would give +14dB more SPL but these are few and far between.
It's a novelty to see the problem this way round. The usual inquiry is about trying to attenuate the dac output in order to avoid having to turn the vc right down.Presumably he’s running out of room on the volume dial and wants a bit more headroom?
It's a novelty to see the problem this way round. The usual inquiry is about trying to attenuate the dac output in order to avoid having to turn the vc right down.
This. I'm at top volume and it's not loud enough. Speakers are good for 106 dB and I'm nowhere near that.Presumably he’s running out of room on the volume dial and wants a bit more headroom?
Just as a sanity check: what is the source, and does it have its own (possibly software-controlled) volume control? E.g. is it a computer and have you checked that the software mixer is at max volume?
Sad to say, that happened to me once...even wrote a panicked thread here trying to figure out why my volume was suddenly way lower than expected.
Chief problem source is the TV, which has a ridiculously quiet PCM output. I may have a dig around and see if I can fix it when the kids aren't about.
TV setup can be a bit of a nightmare for this sort of stuff. But if you can't improve things at the TV end, I'd definitely urge you to investigate adjusting the input sensitivity of the Meridians, since the spec sheet says there's a way to do that. (But you might need a service manual to find out how to do that - or help from Meridian.) Adding a preamp would be a sledgehammer option when there's a way to add gain (effectively) built into the speakers.
They are not adjustable for sensitivity.
Now I'm confused. Why does the spec sheet say they are then? (see https://www.meridian-audio.info/public/m30_spec[383].pdf)
(Also mentioned in posts 22, 24 and 25 above.)
Because it appears to be simply wrong. Read the instruction manual and see if you can find any mention of it being adjustable. Post 24 was mine in which I pointed out that the instruction manual gives only 775mV as sensitivity.
It may be possible to modify them to be more sensitive by changing a couple of resistors but without schematics or being able to examine them I couldn't say.
From what I read, the TV PCM output level seems to be completely mad.Chief problem source is the TV, which has a ridiculously quiet PCM output. I may have a dig around and see if I can fix it when the kids aren't about.