McIntosh 2505 gain issue?

I've been running a TT+phono pre running straight into the inputs of a 2505. The sound was pretty good (yes, there's a subsonic filter in the phono preamp), and I was using the gain controls on the 2505 for volume.

Today, I decided to run a Marantz 1070 integrated as my preamp (using the PRE OUT jacks), and put the old phono preamp away. But the gain on the 2505 needed to be cranked from about 7 o'clock to more like 12 o'clock to get the same output level. Is this normal? Do I have something hooked up wrong?

I've posted this in the Marantz forum, too, to be safe.

It is not uncommon to find the pre out level of a integrated to be very low. You will need to compare the specs of both devices to see how much their outputs differ or bench test them.

The preferred setting for a MC 2505 vol. controls with a Mac pre-amp is 12:00 on the dial = 2.5 volt sensitivity .For a preamp with a 1.4 volt output you need to set the control about 2 to 2:30 on the dial. 1 volt around 3:00 and .5 volt wide open. As I remember marantz used 1.4 volts, if not, that would be a place to start. If you dig out your manual for the 2505 it says you set your pre-amp control at 12:00 and then advance your amps controls to a level just a bit louder than you would normally listen to. That way you get the best signal to noise and your fixed loudness control will track properly when engaged.

PS this is particularly important if you have very efficient speakers. Klipschorns, Altec A-7, JBL Harkness, etc

I know this is "wrong", but when I had a 2505 as my daily driver I eventually ran the gain controls at max. This was with modern McIntosh preamps. It sounded the best to me by far. I think it's like tone controls, do what sounds best to you even if it's audio apostasy.