Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I'm not sure how to even turn the gain down on the McIntosh. I know there are knobs on the back that seem to go from 1v to 2.5v but I don't know if those are the gain controls so I need to educate myself before I start changing any settings. I'll have to look it up on the Act 3 as well but maybe that's it. Appreciate the help.