Ok so my pi experiments continue nicely and now I'm ready to try bypassing the pre and straight into my 300 SET as per Marco's very first post on the subject a billion posts ago.

Given that I'm happy with volume on the pre at a third(ish), i predict the volume direct into the power amp is going to smash the windows. I can dial it back in alsamixer and/or in LOS. Which is best? I've been led to believe software volume decreases quality... thoughts?