@bimmerman2 wow really?! That’s very cool. Yeah Keith is a very helpful and pleasant guy to chat with. What are trim pots? Are they different from the loading plugs?
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.
Showing 10 responses by paulgardner
I have not tried that one. I did swap the interconnect on the phono pre but couldn’t really tell if the imbalance moved or not. Here’s what I’m running: Hana SL cart Clearaudio Ovation table w/ Magnify tonearm Herron Audio VTPH-2 phono stage Cronus Magnum II integrated Amp w/ signal tubes rolled to Gold Lions - Brimmer in the center position Bowers & Wilkins 805 d3 stand mount speakers 2 Rel S-510 subs Kimber interconnects and speaker cables
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@sns room is symmetrical and hearing is good. No wax. |
@fuzztone yeah my main concern is sound degradation. |
@frogman good call on the subs. Mine are in opposite placement of each other. One in the front corner, the other is just to the left of my listening position. I tried turning them both off. Imbalance is still present. What if I told you that the imbalance is present on roughly 60-70% of my records. The imbalance causes the vocals to lean slightly left on 60-70% of my records. The other 40% of my records vocal are dead center and don’t require me to use the balance control. I realize this sounds slightly insane but it is what I’m hearing. I’ve had friends confirm they’re hearing the same thing so I know I’m not completely out of my mind. |
@theophile its not an inexpensive cartridge. |
yeah the channel imbalance is a challenge for sure! I did swap the L/R cartridge leads for a bit but went back because I couldn’t live with the flipped image. It did help though. I really appreciate your replies here. Super insightful and very helpful. I was going to start a new discussion thread but maybe I’ll just ask you here - you once mentioned I could look at a Benz Micro wood cart as an upgrade to the Hana SL (which I really like) I’m running now. Which Benz wood should I consider? I feel like there are a handful of Benz Wood carts out there. Thanks! |
@mulveling wow thanks for the breakdowns. Super helpful! Sounds like the Zebrawood L is a good place to start. Like I said I really like the Hana SL but I think it’s time for a change and I hoping to smooth a bit of the top end harshness of the B&W 805s I sometime experience with some recordings. Much appreciated! |
@mulveling its damn good looking cart! |
@woofman74 fair enough. Thanks for the input to you and everyone here. Much appreciated! |