Hi…not sure if you cleared this all up yet. Separates are the.BEST in my world…more choices…more control, more fun.. ….also more complicated…
…You are in a learning curve right now.
I think of it like this…my pre amp is "The Boss"…it drives and controls my power amp. The pre amp is "The Brains".
… In my world I would put the volume knob(s) on the power amp on "Full Volume"…and just forget about them…like they don’t exist any more. The pre amp will now control that amp…just MAKE SURE you have the mute button off and the volume knob kicked way back on your Freya when you start this set-up.
I make it a habit to turn my Freya volume down low at the end of each listening session so I have no "surprise" on my next outing. Also, be careful when switching to tube mode during a listening session, as the preamp's gain (volume) jumps up quite a bit…(and once you switch to tube mode the tubes have to warm-up 30 sec. before the circuit connects…cool feature…and during that warm-up you CANNOT adjust the Freya Volume…so I make it a habit to kick the volume back a bit BEFORE I switch to tube mode.) You will just form new habits and it becomes second nature.
I currently have a McIntosh MC152 Power Amp. It has no volume controls. …but, before this I had a Bob Carver Power Amp and PreAmp…. The Bob Carver Power Amp had left and right volume knobs. For 40 years I left them on full volume and controlled the amp with the preamp. (Yes…I am old
)..The amp was fine. I sold it recently for more than I bought it for!
If you want to be extra careful, contact your power amp manufacturer and ask them the best procedure for your amp with The Freya, but I think what I described is standard practice with separates.
Anyone feel free to jump in and correct me if I am in error, here. I am just relating my experiences.
Hope this helps you.