Forums - Channel balance question

roggae

Seasoned Member

Posts: 164

Channel balance question
12/11/24 at 03:36:44

So i have been noticing that it SEEMS that one of my speakers is louder than the other. As in i hear things at a louder volume out of one channel than i do the other. So naturally the first thing i checked was the turntable. I performed all of the basic calibration and got things set up even. Still heard it, so i had a new cartridge installed. It was time anyway as the previous cartridge was very worn. I'm still hearing it. It's very subtle but i swear it hear things louder out of one channel than the other. I have a Zen Torii MKK4 amp. IO was wondering if there any diagnostics i can perform on the amp to determine if this is actually happening or if i am just insane. Thanks!

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Donnie Seasoned Member Why does it hurt when I pee? Posts: 2295	Re: Channel balance question Reply #1 - 12/11/24 at 03:58:36 Try swapping tubes from side to side one at a time and see if the problem follows a tube.
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roggae Seasoned Member Posts: 164	Re: Channel balance question Reply #2 - 12/11/24 at 04:04:59 I remembered this after posting. Thank you. So one tube could be the culprit? It doesn't seem to have any distortion or anything involved, just lower volume. It's probably me losing my mind. Lol.
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CAJames

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"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2204

Re: Channel balance question
Reply #3 - 12/11/24 at 04:10:51

Swapping tubes from side to side is an excellent suggestion. If that does not diagnose the problem do you have a stereo imaging test track you can play? If one side really is louder then you should hear the sound stage tilted to the loud side. For me, my room is not symmetric and one side really is louder than other so I compensate with speaker placement and turning down the volume slightly in the left channel until the stereo image is centered and symmetric.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2204

Re: Channel balance question
Reply #4 - 12/11/24 at 04:12:57

Quote:

Posted by: roggae Posted on: Today at 20:04:59

...So one tube could be the culprit? It doesn't seem to have any distortion or anything involved, just lower volume. It's probably me losing my mind. Lol.

In theory yes. How old are your tubes? There doesn't have to be distortion, just the tubes in one channel aging faster than the other.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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roggae Seasoned Member Posts: 164	Re: Channel balance question Reply #5 - 12/11/24 at 04:15:27 Honestly i'm EXACTLY sure how old they are but maybe a couple years.
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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2204	Re: Channel balance question Reply #6 - 12/11/24 at 04:20:57 Do you have a spare set of tubes? If you don't you should get one ASAP IMO. After a couple of years you ought to at least swap in new tubes just to check and see if there is a difference. Your current tubes may be fine, but the best/only way to know for sure is to listen to new ones to see if there is a difference.
Back to top	[FOOBAR2000 \| Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC IP Logged

roggae Seasoned Member Posts: 164	Re: Channel balance question Reply #7 - 12/11/24 at 04:33:31 Oh man i have so many tubes. Easily one whole new set but i keep saving them. I guess this is the time for to use them though.
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JBzen

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Posts: 1450

Re: Channel balance question
Reply #8 - 12/11/24 at 07:47:16

I had the same problem with balance. The lead vocals always skewed to the right at various degrees material dependant. Also thought my sanity was at question! You know trying the same things over and over with expected different results. I even went as far as moving objects in the room with an expected change that seem to happen but did not. Well it ended up being the CSP2's headphone voltage adjustment pots! I always kept those at full throttle as recommended by Steve when not using headphones. As it turns out backing off one click on the right channel with those puts the lead vocals dead center on most material!
Exercise those pots!
HTH

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AMC CD8b>XO3>Cambridge CXN2>ZDAC>ZBOX>braided silver/occ> Zrock2>CSP2+>SE84 milflex copper 25th>9AWG silver/copper braid>lii Crystal 10 in Huijgen cabinets. Ortofon 2M Black>JVC QL-F4/Otari MX5050B2>ZP3. Isolation. AC filtering. Room treatment.

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Crazy Bill the Eel Killer Seasoned Member Tubes Rule !! Posts: 247	Re: Channel balance question Reply #9 - 12/11/24 at 13:17:26 The tubes are an obvious culprit, but don't rule out the speakers themselves. Swap them and see if the problem follows. Good luck, Crazy Bill
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Hearafter Seasoned Member “In Tubes We Trust” Posts: 187	Re: Channel balance question Reply #10 - 12/11/24 at 15:47:58 One of my favorite feature’s on my Decware amp is separate channel volume controls…I find myself using them quite often due to my room set up and some tracks just sound better with a slight adjustment. Good luck solving your issue…hope its an easy fix with the good advice.
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