NAD M33

Hi Freezoner

@mike_in_nc is correct - the volume indication is not something you should worry about. Think of it this way: when it indicates -65db - it is suppressing the line stage input to the amplifier by 65 db (not referring to how loud, but how much attenuation of the signal). For most speakers, it would be barely a whisper. I’m guessing 0 db through your Klipsch Heresy’s would border on painful.

I used to own the M33 in a system a while back and it was typical to run the volume between -35 up to -20 (with somewhat inefficient speakers). At -20, it was louder tthan I wanted for most music. Dbs are how professional rigs measure signal suppression. 

mgrif104 Thank you very much!

Do you have any other speakers that you can try with the M33 or borrow from a friend? I always read that class D amps weren't nearly as good as tubes or class A with high efficiency speakers like the Heresys. That's a lot of power--be careful not to blow a driver. Good luck---keep us posted.

crank that VC until you get the action you need and disregard the numbers shown.  I used it in all its configurations. bi-amping it internally didn't yield much more than the single amp config. It gets most speakers moving pretty well but if you stretch its legs, it ends up showing you the limits of its power.  I will say it's an impressive bit of gear for most though.  IMO it has a bit too many options for the average user to "get wrong" in the setup leaving the user to misinterpret the misconfiguration as something being wrong with the unit.  I found using it as a digital source unity gain/pre-out into my Audio Palette for the final VC... tolerable...which is basically a thumbs up;)

Just to echo what other owners/former owners have said.  Yes, regardless of efficiency of the 3 different speakers I paired it with (none super efficient but roughly 92-85 dB) it needed to be at least 1/3 the way up to be audible and generally around 45-50% for normal listening.  (FWIW, I hated the built-in streamer and disliked the DAC.)