I definitively second Photon46, he nailed it right on. Too much gain is often more of a problem. If your amp has an active pre-amp stage, it may actually sound better with the volume turned further up.
Beginnners question - Phono stage
I am kind of new at this hobby and have a dumb question. Why is it that when I listen to my CD player or tuner, the volume control on my amp is usually set at approximately 40 out of 100 and it is plenty loud. However, when I am listening to vinyl on my turntable, I have to crank up the volume control to 70 to get the same sound level out of my system. I have an AR turntable with a MM cartridge. I tried another turntable with a MC cartridge (making sure "MC" was selected on my phono stage) and it was even worst...I had to crank the volume control to 80! My amp is a Pathos Classic One MKII, a Musical Fidelity XRayV3 CD player, Linn Pekin tuner, Totem Hawks and an MF XLPS phono stage. Is this normal or do I have a problem ? Is this possibly linked to the phono stage itself, cabling or simply due to a cartridge/phono stage mismatch ? Thanks for your help.