2. amps-preamps
  3. 1061393832

Help Troubleshoot - Left Ch. Louder than Right Ch.

I need your collective troubleshooting assistance.

I just put together a new system (comprised of used gear, of course) and hooked it all up last night.

Unfortunately, the left channel is considerably louder than the right. Or - it could be that the right is much QUIETER than the left. Not to be facetious, but in actuality, the left channel seems more "appropriate" all things considered.

The amp is an Antique Sound Labs AQ-1002 (50wpc) and the preamp is a Counterpoint SA-1000. Unfortunately, I don't have any additional components to swap out and determine which piece is the culprit. Can you guys think of any other techniques that might help determine what's causing the problem?

Also, if the amp is not biased properly, could that cause one channel to play louder (or quieter) than the other? There are no Gain controls on the amp that I can see.

I need to figure out what's wrong so that I can either fix it, or seek recourse from the seller before too much time has elapsed.

Thanks guys!
gullahisland

Showing 3 responses by newbee

newbee
4,751 posts
 
Try switching the drive tubes first - you don't have to worry about the bias settings on these.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
No, I was referring to the small tubes, the 12AU7's. It is not unusually at all that when small tubes die that you start to loose volume before they go dead. The 6550's are usually referred to as the power output tubes.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
You may have just had a pin on the tube in poor contact with the socket. If it were me, I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth - but what I do, so I won't get upset when tubes die, is keep a pair of spares for emergencies.
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