Theunderlyingtheme, I don't know much about and have never owned a Nacamichi amp but from what I could find on the web your amp puts out 45 watts per channel. My Cayin puts out 35 watts per channel and I never go over 12 o clock on the volume and that is very loud for me, but this is in a small room 20X13X7. I think there is somthing else going on because as Walkman stated ," I never experienced that with mine". My suggestion would be to repost your question but give more details such as size and layout of the room, cartridge, cd player, ic's, speaker wire , how loud you like to listen, music, etc. You may be trying to get to much out of them and the amp is clipping . It could be a number of things. I'm not saying I have the answear but there are alot of knowledgable people on this site who I'm sure could help you. Good luck. TG