I'd like to take the opportunity to plug the "pasystray" package, available in testing. IMO it provides a friendlier interface to advanced pulse features than pavucontrol.
Btw, does normal KDE mixer work with PA? I remember that when I tried it, all ALSA channel volume levels were replaced by single "pulseaudio volume" there.
P.S: I also think PA is mostly a useless wrapper. It anyway sends everything to ALSA. All basic features work without it, and in most cases it's everything that needed.
-- With best regards, Vitaliy Filippov