$7k / pair, I’d have been all over that myself!
I have a multichannel system and use the EMM Labs (Meitner) Switchman preamp. It has four sets of inputs, six channels apiece, with all 24 individual inputs trimmable. It may not be the best preamp in the world but it’s perfect for my system.
Short of a preamp (which I always think is a good idea) you might try some 6, 10 or 12dB inline attenuators to find the sweet spot between not enough loudness and too much noise.
If you are handy, the design of the DS is such that you only need a resistor to ground from each side of a balanced connector or one resistor for an RCA for an attenuator. (I seem to remember that 62 ohms would give 10dB of attenuation (I’d use 0.1% resistors.) One fellow opened his DS and lifted some resistors to get less attenuation: DS Jr. and Attenuator)