Excellent point Herman. There are pre-amps with input gain switches. The manufacturers saw nothing wrong with putting the reduction ahead of the pre-amp line stage. ARC did this and others I'm sure.
Actually, although no one has mentioned this (I didn't read all of the posts so maybe I just didn't see it), don't most amps have the attenuator between the source and the line stage and the signal thats being attenuated is the signal from the source to the pre-amp, not the pre-amp to the amp?
Actually, although no one has mentioned this (I didn't read all of the posts so maybe I just didn't see it), don't most amps have the attenuator between the source and the line stage and the signal thats being attenuated is the signal from the source to the pre-amp, not the pre-amp to the amp?