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Please help, obsessive audiophile question

Ok, I did something really bad to myself, I got the XLO test CD. What I discovered was a channel imbalance, that, I think, is due to my room. Here is what I did:

First, using a laser, I perfectly centered my speakers in the room, and dialed in an equal amount of toe in on both sides. Also, again using the laser, I checked for dead center on the listening position and dead centered the components between the speakers.

Next, with the balance control centered, I ran the 315 khz test tone on repeat, and measured the voltage at the amp terminals. The voltage was nearly perfectly even. I repeated this at several volume levels, and usually was within a few percent. What ever variation occured between the channels was randomly split between left and right.

Next, the balance test on repeat. With the lights and my eyes closed, I used the remote to adjust the balance on the preamp to center the voice. I started out in the centered, extreme left and extreme right positions, and did my best to make sure I was unaware of how much adjustment I was dialing in. I repeated this multiple times, and got perfectly consistent results. I end up with the balance control turned about 4 "taps" to the right, which translates to a 10% voltage in favor of the right channel at 315 khz. I do not have a sine wave generator or ocilliscope, so I can not verify this over multiple frequencies, but my "aural" measurements have proved to be very consistant.

I adjusted a few moveable items in the room, but, due to some furniture that can not be moved, I think I am getting more reinforcement from the room on the left side.

So, what to do? Will this balance adjustment adversly affect my tube amps? Will one side go through tubes quicker? Should I try to move one speaker back? If I do move the one speaker back, will I adversly effect the time alignment between the two speakers? Or should I stop stressing and just leave the balance control off center.

I know it sounds compulsive and weird, but it sort of bugs me to see the balance control not dead center. Again, this IS an obsessive audiophile question;)

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts.

Ron
rlips
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
You're prob. not going to want to hear this one, but IMHO the panels - even one or two - can have dramatic (negative) influence on the sound - esp. soundstage, balance, transparency. I always prefer the sound w/o any panels in the room, tho' I really wanted the panels to be "magic."
rlips OP
105 posts
 
Geoffkait, do you mean the panels on the sides of my listening room?

I had the system without them, it was pretty bad, as I had a tremendous slap echo.

Would there be a better way to deal with slap echo? I am curious, as I always am willing to try to tweak the room.

Thanks,

R
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
slap echo can seem worse than it is, there are worse things that could happen. Attempts to cure slap echo often result in killing the "openness" of the sound. IMOM the panels can do more harm than good. I still have several panels here, but not in the room :-)

If it were me, I would take all panels off side walls and put in another room temporarily. See how the room sounds w/o them. Then bring back in one or two at a time to see how they affect sound.
sean
6,231 posts
 
Geoffkait: Different room acoustics will require different speaker placement for optimum results. Having optimized the speakers for the acoustics of the room with the panels and then pulling the panels will change the entire presentation and in-room frequency response. Therefore, you're suggestion would entail a LOT more work for most installations if trying to keep things on an apples to apples basis. Doing anything less than the above would provide skewed results that aren't worth the time or effort. That's because they would only lead to further confusion in most cases. Sean
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theaudiotweak
2,772 posts
 
Panel based speakers are quite variable in response and hence balance and image.So has been my experience of ownership..If your room is perfectly symetrical in geometry and placement of sound panels, then I would look towards the speakers themselves..How do the speakers audibly align playing a mono cd?..Tom
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