Balance not fading speaker

Is your amplifier balanced? What kind of subwoofer is it and how is it connected? If you have the sub hooked up via the REL recommended approach for a single ended amplifier but are running a balanced amplifier the REL is serving to jumper the two channels together, even when it is turned off but still connected. If you are feeding the subwoofer only via a RCA interconnect, then this would not be the cause. I only reference REL as these are the subs I own and am not sure the connection method of other subs. Try disconnecting the sub altogether and see what happens. Another item may be that some preamps have the ability to bypass all signal adusting (including the balance) to provide the most direct path possible (based on AR olds attitude that the less in the path the better, not a bad attitude), this may also be a cause. What if you hook up your source via a different input or read the manual to see if your pre has such a set-up and how to engage the "tone control" or in this case the balance control.

Ckoffend-

You are correct, when I disconnect the sub(Bob Carver Dominator)the correct balance adjustment returns. My only concern is that there is no negative effect on the music playback or the equipment.

Before doing this hook-up I talked with both ARC and Carver tech reps plus a post here and all said that wiring the sub directly with the regular speakers to the amp is fine since the ARC equipment does not have a separate sub input/output.

The sound seems very satisfying, just doesn't seem normal when the balance isn't functioning the way one would assume it should.

I disagree with their statement that everything should be fine. Just out of curiosity, when you are playing a piece or disc you are very familiar with that has noticeable placement of instruments on one side or the other, do you still get this full width soundstage when the sub is connected? My assumption is that the soundstage collapses when the sub is hooked up as both channels are getting the same signal, and this is why your balance control does not work. I am of the opinion (but by no means am I an expert) that the sub or its connection is jumpering the two channels together, at the very minimum giving you cross talk. I am not familiar with the recommended connections for this sub, but I do know that the Rels have very specific instructions for connecting to a dual differential (ie. balanced) amplifier. If you need the Rel instructions to see if they would apply also to the Carver, let me know and I can e-mail them to you.

Are you using Y cables? If so, you may be converting the output to mono.

No Y cables but they were recommended as an option on an earlier thread I previously started . One of the responses I received was:

"Right, you can't use the 'tape out' connections because they're not controlled by the volume control on the preamp, meaning the volume coming from the sub wouldn't change as you adjust the volume to your main speakers.

If you do want to split the preamp output you can use one of the devices Steuspeed recommended. He suggested one from Audioquest and there's another from Monster. Click here to see what the one from Monster looks like. Both it and the Audioquest version are solid connectors, no wire involved.

You shouldn't worry about using the speaker wire connection method, though. The subwoofer amp won't be pulling any substantial power from your main amp and won't overload it at all. That connection method is the one recommended by both REL and HSU, makers of some of the better subs out there. You should definitely do what you're most comfortable with, however, it's your gear."

There was a long discussion about the dual wire hook-up and everyone(incl. ARC) seemed to think it was perfectly fine, but maybe not?? The sub manual does address the Y adapter hookup but others poo-poo'd it for various reasons. Maybe it is the way to go??

Think I got it. Reviewed the Carver sub guide and a third option is to go from the pre out to the sub line in, sub line out to the amp. The higher frequencies pass through to the amp and main speakers while just the low freq is processed by the sub.

Now balance works correctly and sound is very good once again.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

When doing this, are you using the sub as a cross over and not sending the full signal to the amp for the main speakers? If so, I would be concerned about this.

Additionally, I don't know how crazy I would be to be sending my main signal through this sub (or any sub for that manner) where it can have a sonic impact to the signal.

But, you have it running and are happy and that is all that matters.

Y cables would be fine as long as you split both outputs. In other words don't combine L&R outs into a single input.

Yes Carver states that the sub passive crossover is "keeping" the less than 70hz signals and sending the rest to the amp. They also state that this is the preferred method if there's no LFE Output, using smaller speakers (Focal Chorus) and tube amp.

Carver also shows the dual wire set-up I was using. They do note that the amp needs to be "common-grounded" because the two negative posts in the sub's amp are also. I talked to ARC about this and they said the amp would be fine.

Anyway, sounds good and the balance is correct but think I'll also get a pair of Y adapters and see how that sounds. Then I will have tested three different methods.

Installed RCA gold plated plug-in splitters. The solid type with two outputs, no wires. Works very well. Not sure if there's much defference in sound and it's kind of a pain to easily switch out between the different set-ups.

Will go with this for now. Much better than it was regardless. Thanks again for the inputs!