Need help with channel imbalance issue

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by mm92599, Jan 14, 2020.

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  1. mm92599

    mm92599 Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I have a newer Rega Planar 2 connected to a Cambridge Audio Topaz SR20 receiver with built in phono input and a pair of Focal Chorus 605 bookshelf speakers. I have always had an issue with channel Imbalance where the sound is slightly louder with more detail/clarity from the left speaker as compared to the right speaker which is somewhat “muffled” with slightly lower volume output. This issue has been present with several cartridges including the stock Carbon MM, Rega Bias 2, At VM95EN and an AT VM95E. I have switched the RCA inputs from my tt going into my receiver and that did not cause the imbalance to change sides from left to right. I switched the leads going from the tonearm to the cartridge and that did not change the imbalance from left to right. I have swapped the speakers and that did not change the imbalance. I have swapped the speaker wires and also replaced the speaker wires, neither of which changes the channel imbalance. I tried a different receiver and that did not fix the issue. The strangest thing is that I hooked up a ProJect Carbon Debut and it also seemed to produce the same channel imbalance. I also used a very high end preamp so that I could connect to a different input in the receiver and that did not resolve the issue.

    needless to say, I am at a loss with this. Anyone have any insight that they can throw out to me. I’m losing my mind trying to pinpoint the issue. Thanks.
     
  2. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    Could be a partial hearing loss in your right ear. I'm not joking.
     
  3. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Well, as above, your ears are most certainly not exactly the same, but beyond that if the room is different side to side you could be getting a reinforcement in a specific frequency range.
     
    Thorensman and timind like this.
  4. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    As an experiment, place the speakers in a nearfield setup and listen. It sounds like a room/speaker placement issue to me.
     
    Thorensman likes this.
  5. mm92599

    mm92599 Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I actually thought that this could be the issue but I brought my brother over to take a listen and he heard the same imbalance issue that I was hearing.
     
  6. mm92599

    mm92599 Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    This could possibly be an issue. The right speaker is positioned much closer to a side wall compared the the left which has quite a bit of open space .
     
    lonelysea and timind like this.
  7. Apesbrain

    Apesbrain Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    Sit facing away from the speakers and see if the imbalance goes the other way.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  8. mm92599

    mm92599 Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I will try doing this. It will take some work as I will need to move around several components, but it would be worth doing to see if it resolves the issue.
     
  9. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    You might help the situation with some selective treatment. Panels that help with midrange are usually the least expensive of the bunch. Try a sofa cushion or something and have a listen. Also, more toe-in, like aim those drivers so that it is all on axis from the seating position. That will change it if not improve it.
     
  10. mm92599

    mm92599 Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I tried this today but it didn’t change what I was hearing. I did swap the speaker cables going into the speakers and this did seem to cause the the imbalance to shift. I assume this would point to the turntable as the problem but not sure.
     
    macster likes this.
  11. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    It's likely the amp. Try headphones to eliminate room interactions.
    -Bill
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  12. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Unless you and your brother have the same hearing, it sounds like the room. It may be as simple as repositioning your speakers a little. There are many "articles" about sound and room interaction on the net. I had a similar problem which I finally resolved by both speaker repositioning and judicious us of room treatment.

    If you can't reposition your speaker, there are many DSP HW solutions (some relatively inexpensive) available. But if analog is your thing, you may not want to travel that path.

    The room is as important as any component in your rig.
     
  13. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I'm not a fan of solely relying on "by ear" to fix issues like this, since human hearing can be flawed, and it isn't unusual for a person to hear better in one ear vs. the other.

    Equipment can also have small channel imbalances. One in thing in particular you need to be aware of is that phono cartridges are built to different tolerances and a 1-2 dB difference between the channels is not unusual at all. Typically this is listed in the spec sheet for the cart.

    Recording the output of a known good test record from the rec outs or preamp outs digitally and then analyzing will show what is going on with the cartridge, though it won't be totally free from the influence of the turntable or the preamp, so you may want to test the cart(s) on someone else's system. You'll have to do process of elimination here - it could be the amp, preamp, or even the speakers.

    I would definitely test the amp/receiver by playing a CD/FLAC/WAV file of free test tones and then recording the results from the rec outs and then analyze with software like Audacity. Testing the speakers can be done but is a bit more complicated and will require some specialized equipment and software.
     
    robertawillisjr likes this.
  14. ALAN SICHERMAN

    ALAN SICHERMAN Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    It could be the amp. I had a problem with my Creek 5350 SE when one channel was working badly. I sent it for repair and they did a great job for $160.00. Bristol Elec. in NJ.
     
  15. The Slipperman

    The Slipperman Forum Resident

    Have you done any needledropping to verify the imbalance? I have this exact same issue with my AT-120-LP-USB where the right channel is consistently lower than the left channel. It's really frustrating because the amount of the imbalance seems to vary slightly per record and on Yes' TFTO 2016 reissue, there was no imbalance.
     
  16. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    You have to be careful with checking channel balance using commercial records of music. Some are cut with precisely balanced channels, but many others are not. And, as I said before, an in-spec cartridge from most major manufacturers can vary up to 1-2dB w/r/t channel balance.

    If you are making needledrops, the obvious, easiest thing to do is adjust the balance in software.
     
    jupiterboy likes this.
  17. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I just resolved a channel imbalance that has been bugging me. Adjusting the toe-in of the speakers to get them both exactly the same was the cure. That was the idea all the time, of course, but somehow they had got out of kilter.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2020
    Harp Of Glass likes this.
  18. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Its likely speaker placement, which has been mentioned by many here.
    I recently spent a day with a tape measure and some diagrams from Cardas
    Found on line

    Solved the problem. when you are seated
    In usual seat if an assistant places a mirror on wall and moves it till the loudspeaker can be seen, this is the point
    Where reflections occur.
    A rug or similiar will cancel out these reflections.
    Also, increasing bias on tonearm may
    Improve right channel.
     
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