IMAGE PROBLEMS VOCALS OFF CENTER


My image is off center.
I have changed practically everything.
Swapped interconnects, cd players, placed left speaker on the right and right speaker on the left and vice versa. Switched amplifiers, power cables etc etc. The image (noticeable on vocals) is about a foot to the right of center. DRIVING ME INSANE!!!!!!! I have this gear in an architecturally sound room. It was designed by Obsession AUdio in the U.S. and it is definitely not a room issue. It is not my hearing (as first thought) because others have noticed and confirmed the problem as well. HAS ANYONE ENCOUNTERED THIS PROBLEM?
Could it be an electrical issue coming in to the house????? Is that even possible?
Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Randy
butterscotchmusic
This sounds like a classic phase problem. Yes, try a mono recording if you have one, or a regular stereo one if not. Switch the positive and the negative on one (only) of your speakers. Perhaps you have purchased a (used?) pre-amp/you don't have the manual/ and it reverses polarity. Many do. In any case if it sounds better, with centered image and better bass, that's it.
If that doesn't get it and you've tried the above, go ahead and make speaker placement adjustments, move one closer/forward, angle one more than the other (this makes a big difference in centering), because your room is not perfect. Things don't have to be perfectly symetrical, you neurotic engineer.
(I know, we're all neurotic.)
If you have tried swapping and eliminating all hardware (checked voltage output on standard tone out of each amp etc) then clearly it can not be the equipment. It is you or the room. If you know for sure others hear it (or you have tested your hearing with same db output from each speaker and you dont hear the difference) than it is the room. If it is the room, try: (i) measuring dbs with same db tone CDs, right and left channel using an audio shack db meter and if that does not make the issue clear (ii) download the room EQ wizard (buy a mike) and measure not only immediate dbs but also map out various milisecond scenarios. That will allow you to see if reverbs are causing sustained dbs beyond the immediate timing (often the problem.) If that is the problem, get your money back from your room designers and start experimenting with room treatment (forget equalizers for reverb problems, much less helpful if at all.) If that is not the problem, then move houses!

By the way I assume your issue is not only vocals but pretty much all sounds. Otherwise, it is really mysterious.
Mihalis what is the reference position for all sounds,and where are they supposed to be seen on the landscape of audio recordings? Even with vocals, which you would assume to be placed at perfect center there may be a blur in the acoustic bubble which may place it off to the side. Where does that blur originate, is it a singular point of the chain or is the cause of many? From the recording space, or mics or mix, to the press to the consumer electronics to the playback room, all are probably to blame. I have been fighting these issues of image solidity for years. The more powerful microscope you have the more crap you can see. So is the same for high resolution audio, darn it.. Tom
I am now pretty certain that it is indeed a volume issue. Not room related. I started playing with the volume knob and very slowy began to turn it clockwise. The right speakers begins to have sound coming from it before the left channel. I guess that probably means that the right speaker is slightly louder than the left, therefore causing the image to shift sligtly to the right of center. How would someone fix this problem???