The VU meters on my tape player are bypassed because I don't want the signal to go through them. I have adjustable step-up transformers at the input of my head-amp. I can select gain of 3db, 6db, 9db, 12db and 15db. I like adjusting gain using a transformer rather varying resistance. I use the adjustable gain of the step-up transformers to set the level I want with a particular tape. For example, for tapes recorded at 520nW/m I use 3db of gain. If I use any other setting, the head-amp will distort. With tapes that are recorded at 396nW/m (like Ed's), I use 6db of gain. The majority of tapes I have are recorded at 320nWb, so I use 9db of gain. Occasionally, I have a tape that sounds best at 12db of gain. For each of these gain settings, I use a different resistor to load the tape head.
If I decide to use a different tape head with a different output voltage, the adjustable step-up transformers can help make gain adjustments for the new tape head.
