Does turning up Amp on Active speaker increase distortion?

[ShiZo]

I have jbl305p active speakers and a benchmark hpa4 that I'm using as a preamp. I'm wondering if the built in amp in the speakers increases the distortion of the output drivers the higher it goes. Would it be better to turn the volume to 100% on the speakers and control volume on the preamp. Or would it be better to have the jbl's between 60%-70% volume and use my preamp to increase the volume. I'm basically wondering how the behavior of the internal amps of the jbl305p (or other active speakers) behaves as far as the relation to speaker volume level vs distortion. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Berwhale]

I think it's best to treat the 'volume' on the back of the monitors as a balance control with independent left and right settings. You should be using your pre-amp to control the actual listening volume.

The advice in the manual for my MTMs is to set the 'volume' to the mid point on each speaker, then make small adjustments to one or the other to get the balance right.

I don't have the 305p's any more (too much tweeter hiss for me) and I can't recall if anything was mentioned about volume setting in the manual.

*edit* JBL manual is a bit vague (what is 'nominal operating level' for your pre-map?), but does mention using the 'volume' to balance the speakers....

4. Play full range program material from the source with ample low frequency content so that you can properly judge the bass response of the system. Now slowly advance the volume control of the source device until its nominal operating level is achieved.

5. Slowly increase the VOLUME control on each 3 Series Studio Monitor until the desired listening level is achieved and all speakers are matched in output level to achieve a balanced image.

From the bottom of page 9: https://jblpro.com/en/site_elements/3-series-mkii-owner-s-manual-english

I think a more technical response to your question and your specific setup will involve a dive into gain structure.

 

[kennyg99]

As an amplifiers gain increases, so does distortion.