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Lower Volume from One Monoblock

Technical question on Cary 500 monoblocks. One amp is noticeably lower in output volume than the other. My sound was off-centered, a good bit louder on the left. Swapping the monoblocks left to right the louder sound swapped too. The left channel is now lower in volume. Any ideas on what goes wrong with a monoblock to reduce the output. The amp plays, it is just lower in output than the other amp?
stickman451

Showing 2 responses by almarg

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Stickman, I doubt that the 28BSST2 would be a suitable match for your Hovland preamp. As with a number of other Bryston amps, its input impedance is lowish, in this case either 15K or 16.5K for its unbalanced input, depending on what document is looked at. From JA's measurements of your preamp:
Despite the claim that the HP-100 uses a cathode follower output stage, its source impedance was high at 2.4k ohms, rising to 4.3k ohms at 20Hz. The partnering power amplifier would best have an input impedance of at least 47k ohms if the bass is not to sound lean.
Regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
So, you don't think it would match well at all?
I wouldn't recommend it. It MIGHT sound fine on most recordings, since what would be adversely affected to the greatest degree is mainly the bottommost octave. But why introduce a known issue into your system when there are other choices available?

Regards,
-- Al
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