Help with balance/sound issue please.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Droogmeister, Jul 2, 2019.

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  1. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    I'll try to be brief and to the point here.

    If I turn the balance control completely left, the left speaker sounds good, full and bright.

    If I turn the balance control completely right, the right speaker sounds dull and lifeless and somewhat lower in volume.

    When the balance is centred both speakers sound good, full and bright.

    I've swapped the speakers over and get the same result, the 3 drivers in both speakers are all working fine.

    Can anybody here tell me if perhaps I have a problem with the speaker internals (crossovers or capacitors) or if the problem lies with my pre amp or amp.

    Any helpful suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks
     
  2. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Just to get it straight - when you swapped speakers, the problem stayed on the right side?

    If so, it is becoming fairly obvious the next step is to consider your pre-amp as the source of the problem....
     
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  3. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Yeah..problem remains on the same channel even after swapping speakers left to right and vice versa.
     
  4. Chilli

    Chilli Pretend Engineer.

    Location:
    UK
    Sounds like a dodgy pot on the balance control. Try turning it fully back and forth a few times as that can clean the contacts sometimes.
     
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  5. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    If the problem remains on the same side then it has nothing to do with the speakers.

    Check cables and the connectors attached to them but there is a good chance the problem is higher up, amp or source. Swap the right and left interconnect of your source (CD player, TT?) and see.
     
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  6. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Well that's certainly worth trying, I have a can of electrical contact cleaner, thanks for the suggestion.

    I'm just puzzled why the sound from both speakers sounds nice when balance is centre but not when fully left or right is selected.
     
  7. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Another very good suggestion which I'd never even considered, will try this before taking the system apart..thank you very much.
     
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  8. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    You can truly thank them by posting an update after. :)
     
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  9. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    The problem could be a partial loss of hearing in one ear (typically high frequencies are more severely affected), a problem in ANY of the components in the chain, or room acoustics. You should swing the balance over to one speaker and then sit directly in front of the speaker. If you turn your head slightly left or right, can you hear a difference that suggests one ear is under-performing? If no, then it probably is not your ears. Again sit in front of the other speaker speaker (close by), does it sound different? If no, this suggests it could be the room acoustics (sitting directly in front and close to the speaker minimizes the effect of room acoustics?. If the answer is yes, it is a component issue and you have to do the one by one swapping of each component left and right as suggested above. I would be systematic in that approach; since you started that process with speakers, try the amp or integrated amp/receiver next, followed by the source components. If the problem stays on the same side, try swapping cabling.
     
  10. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    I'd use a mono source.

    I'd examine speaker placement.
     
  11. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    The most likely suspect is the balance potentiometer. Try cleaning with contact cleaner, no deoxit. The reason you have distortion and lower level at the far right setting is that part of the trace has an adhered particle(s) on it -or- the wiper is worn or has low spring tension, a possible factory defect.
     
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  12. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    Cleaning the pre-amp balance potentiometer, and all potentiometers and switches seeing as I was in there anyways, with isopropyl 99% alcohol and a Q-tip worked when I removed the cover. My left side had became a bit static and flat sounding. Dripped a bit in and swiftly rotated the knobs back and forth for about 30 seconds to a minute each. Let them completely dry for 15 minutes, reassembled it and the problem was gone and has not returned.

    Your problem sounds similar and is certainly worth this very low cost try IMO. Good luck! :)
     
    TheVinylAddict likes this.
  13. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Many many thanks for all suggestions, you guys have been very generous with your time and experiences, much appreciated everyone.

    I shall inform and update as soon as I have time to investigate further.

    Once again..many many thanks.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  14. daniel peterson

    daniel peterson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    1. Verify the speakers are properly connected to the system. Are your speakers new? Is this speaker's balance distortion a newly emerged issue or has it been faulty from the very beginning? You know, if nothing works, you can always try the warranty.
    2. If applicable, try changing the sound mode on the system.
    3. Try changing other controls that are on your system, apart from the balance control, such as the tone control, volume control, etc. It is obviously the lamest way of solving any issue, but if they both sound 'good, full and bright' when balance is centred maybe you acn live with that.
    4. Try playing a different source (CD, TAPE, RADIO, etc), just like @Uglyversal proposed.
    5. If applicable, try replacing the speaker wires with a different gauge of speaker wire.
    6. If possible, test the speakers on a different stereo system.
     
  15. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Hi everybody, today I took apart my preamp and cleaned all of the pots with contact cleaner, worked them back and forth a good number of times then put it back together.

    I allowed an hour or so for the contact cleaner to work some magic and dry out.

    I tried this method (suggested by Fringe and others) after testing and checking the basics, (connections etc).

    Now then, I did say that once the balance was centered, both speakers sounded full and bright, clearly my hearing was lying to me because the difference in the affected channel has really come through..that's actually an understatement, the difference is night and day.

    Because of the room layout, the right speaker is somewhat close to a wall and lately I've had to adjust the balance to get a good centred sound, I assumed this was because of the speakers proximity to the wall.

    I now have the balance at absolute central and the stereo image is crystal clear and perfectly centered.

    I'd like to thank all who had an input, you all took the time to read and respond to my plea for help and I'm truly and sincerely grateful to you all.

    Massive big huge THANK YOU :tiphat:

    A quick add on...just playing Blondie (Plastic Letters) and I've had to turn down the treble, I can't recall how long ago but I must've increased it to compensate the lack of brightness in the offending channel.

    I can hardly believe the difference a simple fix has made..amazed.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2019
    Dave, qwerty, LivingForever and 7 others like this.
  16. Chilli

    Chilli Pretend Engineer.

    Location:
    UK
    Brilliant! Enjoy your spruced up listening experience!
     
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  17. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    If you want to really hear a difference, get your ears cleaned out the next time you visit the doctor.
     
  18. Droogmeister

    Droogmeister Welcome to the Atrocity Exhibition Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    I've had my ears syringed a few times, last time wasn't quite 12 months ago and it does make a real difference...thank you..
     
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  19. daniel peterson

    daniel peterson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Just be careful when it comes to self-cleaning. Self-ear cleaning is a widespread practice, but we should not forget that if mishandled this practice has the potential to compromise the integrity of the ear. It is a natural, self-cleansing mechanism.
     
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  20. Chilli

    Chilli Pretend Engineer.

    Location:
    UK
    I'll put the jet wash away.....
     
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  21. daniel peterson

    daniel peterson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Jet wash should be fine. It would clean the ears so thoroughly, there would be no distortion at all. Probably, there would not be much hearing left anyways, but well, at least the distortions are gone too.
     
  22. plastic penguin

    plastic penguin Active Member

    Location:
    Surrey UK
    Have you tried swapping the interconnects around between the amplifier and source?

    It doesn't sound like the speakers but it'll mean some experimentation.
     
  23. ALAN SICHERMAN

    ALAN SICHERMAN Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the amp. I have a Creek 5350SE . I sent it out for repair and they were able to fix it.
     
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