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General question about tube preamps and gain

I have a (possibly moronic) question unrelated to my previous thread. This is a general question about tubes and gain.

So say you buy a tube preamp and it sounds clean and clear. You decide you want that dark, syrupy sound (classic tube sound?). So you buy tubes that impart this sound on the signal and install them.

Now installed, you notice that the more you turn the preamp volume up, the more the tubes impart that sound on the signal. But you can’t play it loud. 
So could you, theoretically, put attenuators (lets say -10db) between said preamp and the power amp to lower the output signal which you’d then turn the volume up and drive the tubes a little harder to impart more of the tube’s sound at lower levels?

I hope this makes sense. It does in my head but that don’t mean much.


gochurchgo
gochurchgo OP
946 posts
 
This has nothing to do with the preamp I just bought. There was a discussion I had with an acquaintance which is why I ask. It has nothing to do with me personally.

i was asked the question and I said that it seemed to me that by dropping the out put 10db the added volume to make it up might add more of the tube coloration.
Post removed 
snapsc
722 posts
 
@gochurchgo


It seems like you are asking if a home audio preamp, might behave somewhat  like some guitar amps...where you can turn up the gain to increase distortion...some call it crunch??  I'm sure that there are people on this site ....like @atmasphere that can give you the answer you are looking for.

I suspect that the distortion component present as you turn up the volume increases minimally until you hit maximum gain...which 10db of attenuation is unlikely to allow the volume to be turned up to that level.  Therefore, I'm thinking that the best way to add more tube coloration...as has been suggested, is to try different tubes until your acquaintance finds the one that best suits their preferences.
gochurchgo OP
946 posts
 
@snapsc you are probably right.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Call the manufacturer of the preamp and ask if you can replace with a lower gain tube.

Changing a higher gain tube for a lower gain tube won’t do much, you need to change the feedback loop components to reduce the gain, a job for a good tube tech.
One of my tube pre’s has a switch 1 x or 3 x gain https://ibb.co/ygM6WHt

Cheers George
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