Thanks everyone. Lukily, it turned out to be the cable as it did it on the other channel when the cables were switched. They are brand new from a well known high end cable company, so Sean was right about even right out of the box, they still may not work. I will go to the dealer for an exchange and hope the new pair works.
One Channel Lower Output With XLR Cables
I switched to balanced XLR cables from the RCA unbalanced types. When I did this, I noticed via the amp meters, that the right channel had a lower output then the left in all situations, CD-player and tuner. When I switched back to the RCA cables, both channels went back to the same exact output levels. Is this caused by the cables or the balanced outputs of the pre-amp or amp? Does a one meter length of cable really make that much difference in using balanced or non-balanced cables anyway? Thanks.