Peter, thanks for the reply. I see I'm not the only one using this technique to work around the problem.
An odd twist is my Denon player's built-in test tones don't exhibit the problem; player SWFR output level is about right in that case. It's only when playing actual SACD or DVD-A material the player SWFR output is attenuated about 20 db. Very strange.
From a philosophical standpoint, turning down my player 5 main channels -12 db (leaving SWFR at 0db) then turning up the amp master volume to compensate is hurting the noise floor by that amount. Yet isn't that a supposed advantage of high resolution formats?
At least it sounds OK, just irks me to peg the discrete amp SWFR gain on full plus and peg the player outputs on full minus to get proper bass.
Like you I could turn the sub volume knob up higher, on the amp turn down the other sources (except analog multichannel), that would buy a few more db.
It's just outlandish to jump through such hoops. No wonder SACD and DVD-A are struggling formats. The sadest part of all is, a well-mixed multichannel SACD or DVD-A album played on a properly-calibrated system is outstanding. Yet most people will never experience this. Industry mismanagement and poor standardization contribute to the sad situation.
