Ridiculous question about A21

[Mike_Schmidt]

I have been told by my dealer that the A21 and JC2 sound there best at 1100 oclock or higher. On CD I would not be able to play it that loud simply just to much with my TT different story. How true is this and can I turn the power up so I can dial it up? Proac D28's dont need much power to make them get up

[Peter Nielsen]

That's not true.

I know where your dealer is coming from: Back in the 70s and early 80s receivers and preamps had a feature called "loudness" coupled to the volume potentiometer. Most amps with this feature had a "loudness" switch that let you turn the feature on/off. This changed the bass level depending on your volume, and consequently the physical setting of the volume knob had a direct effect on the sound produced.

This, however, is history in any amp produced after 1990, for sure! I would be tempted to say 1985, but maybe a few exceptions can be found. FWIW, the loudness tap position on the potentiometer was at 11 o'clock, and when the volume was at 11 or higher the "loudness" switch had no audible effect. I'm sure this is the memory your dealer has deep back inside his mind and incorrectly applies to modern gear. Maybe your poor dealer owned a piece of gear with loudness, but without the loudness switch? Then his only option to turn it "off" would be to keep the volume at 11 o'clock or higher... :rofl:

(I also checked WikiPedia for a good reference on Loudness, but unfortunately all they have is this small tidbit: "The "loudness" control on a consumer stereo alters the frequency response curve to correspond roughly with the equal loudness characteristic of the ear. The loudness control is intended to make the recorded music sound more natural when played at a lower sound pressure level.")

"Loudness" was the most commonly used name in the days. However, I remember that Philips started out calling it "Phys" in their early equipment using this feature...


FWIW, if you venture into believing in the 11 o' clock hoax, then you can implement it on your gear: Turn down the gain pot on the A21/JC1 to the level where 11 o'clock on the preamp is a good level for you.

There is one small bit of useful information resulting from your dealer's statement: If your preamp is noisy, then you could turn down the input gain pot of the A21/JC1 to the level where the preamp background noise no longer can be heard. (Turn the preamp volume all the way down. Put your ear next to the treble element of your speaker. Do you hear a hiss? If you do, then slowly turn down the input gain pot of the A21/JC1. Does it decrease? If so, keep turning down the gain until there is no change. Turn it back up again until you hear a change, then back down a little. Now you have the sweet spot of the gain control! Note: Many times there is no sweet spot to be found because the preamp's noise is less than the power amplifier's internal noise; You will hear no difference in background noise when turning down the gain potentiometer. In this case it's best to leave the gain at the maximum or recommended reference level).

[Chris D]

So.... this amp goes to Eleven?

[Mike_Schmidt]

you can "tune" down the JC2? I didnt know that the only hiss I get is from my Moon phono stage other than that its quiet. And the hiss i get there you have to go beside the speaker to hear it. I will keep my A21 at reference level to keep all other components out of the equation. Thanks Peter

Chris on CD if it hit 10 bells its loud even on 1st pressings. Vinyl on the other hand I can go to 12 its loud but its clean.