Technically it would be Medium gain if someone has a 4v source.
Question re: amp gain. Am running a Marantz Cinema 40, which I believe has internal amp gains of 29 dB. If I mated it with this 25.6 dB gain Purifi amp, is this correct:
Marantz is rated for 125W/ch into 8 ohms (2 channels driven) --> 31.6 V (RMS)
At 29 dB Gain (internal amp), input signal level is 31.6 / [10^(29/20)] = 1.12V RMS (takes a little over 1V RMS to drive internal amp to max power)
If I substitute Purifi amp @ 25.6 dB, need 3.4 dB more input voltage to reach same 125W --> 1.12V x {10^(3.4/20)} = 1.66V RMS
Input signal needed to reach Purifi amp's measured 8 ohm max power (172 W, from Amir) --> 1.66V x sqrt(172/125) = 1.95V RMS
Buckeye website lists max power as 225W (8 ohms) --> 2.23V RMS
Do these modern AVR's handle up to 2.3V RMS on their unbalanced outputs, with no issue? (Cinema 40 doesn't have balanced pre-outs)
Does SINAD/THD/etc suffer on these AVR pre-outs when voltage is cranked up? The difference between 25.6 dB and 29 dB is about 1.5x (50% higher voltage needed).
Not that I'd ever listen to anything at these ear-splitting levels... Just really asking, are there any signal quality "penalties" by substituting a lower gain amp in the chain vs. higher-gain internal amps, assuming the same output SPL to the listener.