Is it possible for the center image to drift from lp to lp?


Lately it seems I'm having to adjust speaker positioning, slightly, to accommodate for "center image drifting".

It does seem to fluctuate somewhat between varying lps.

Could it be either of these things:

(1) I'm a 57 year old male.
(2) The transparency of my system .
(3) The mixing of any particular lp.
(4) Once one's system is revealing enough, is it possible to hear if the center image, ( in the case of a vocalist) moves slightly from one side of the microphone?

I'm hoping for most to come down on number 4.

Thanks.
astro58go

Showing 2 responses by rlawry

Mine does this and I have thought of several factors.  Wear of the record, tubes' gain changing, system warmup, differences in tracking different parts of the record, volume control mistracking at various settings.  I have a preamp with separate volume controls so this is rarely a problem I cannot fix but could be annoying with the lack of this.  Getting this right greatly improves my soundstage.
Another factor I forgot to mention was the recording itself, which might be found in the original master tape or could be a pressing issue.  I have tried multiple copies of the same recording and the center image is skewed one way, and when subsequently playing another recording the center image is in the middle.