You’re welcome! And yes, I agree the Zebrawood L is a solid choice. A really good embodiment and implementation of the "Benz" sound. Also I think it’s a very handsome cartridge!
All my Benzes so far have had excellent L/R channel balance.
Balance control?
I’m running an analog exclusive rig and feel like I’ve been dealing with a channel imbalance for awhile now. I’ve tried trouble shooting this every single way I can think of. The cartridge is set up correctly, checked tubes, etc. My question is: am I obsessing over finding the root cause or should I just cave and use the balance control on my integrated? I feel like it would be ideal to find the cause and not use the balance control. Dose using the balance control introduce anything into the signal? Ugh.
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@mulveling its damn good looking cart! |
paulgardner You've received a lot of good advice yet still have an imbalance problem . Do you hear an imbalance with mono records ? Do your classical symphony records have the correct orientation ? Dealing with this problem for some time ? What did you change when it started ? First have you switched everything left and right one by one ! from phono cables to speaker cables to left and right tubes . Do you use a good magnifying glass when setting up your cartridge alignment ? Do you have any old equipment , cables or tubes to switch in and out ? Good Luck . |
@paulgardner This does not sound like a cartridge problem. You switched the leads and came up with nothing conclusive- this suggests the problem is something else. The most likely problem is a tube. First identify the phono section tubes in your amp. Turn the amp off and swap the tubes that are the input to the phono section- this is where most of the gain is produced. Warm the amp up- did the problem move? If yes you know the bad tube. If no, proceed to the next pair of tubes in the signal chain and perform the same procedure- continue this until the problem moves. But- if you have a line level source like a CD player, try that. Does it have the channel imbalance? If no, the problem is only in the phono section. If yes, its not the phono at all. Perform the procedure above only starting with the preamp tubes at the line stage level. FWIW this could be power tubes as easily as any other tube so it will sound better when you get this sorted out. Keep us informed- good luck. |
Some cartridges are just built like that. I had a Dynavector XV-1S that had an imbalance - not much I could do except adjust azimuth by twisting the headshell. I hated doing that so I got rid of the cart. If it is the cart (your other carts do not have imbalance issues), you either need a great microscope or get a Fozgometer and test record to determine the extent of the imbalance. You can then decide if you want to live with it or get rid/retrip the cartridge. |
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