McIntosh C33 image question

Thanks for all the responses.

The C-33 is a solid state preamp. However, Adjusting the balance may be just the remedy to center the image. Once I get this cleared up I'm fairly confident the Mac will oust the PV-5. Everything else about the preamp seemed so "right"

One of the issues with the C-33 was it had a lot more buttons and knobs than I am accustomed to, and it did not come with a users manual.

I had somewhat similar situation with a MX114. It turned out the volume pot on the preamp wasn't exact at lower volumes and favored one side. Voices seemed shifted to the right. Lowering the gain on the amp and up on the preamp brought things back into focus.

Weak tubes on the right side of the pre-amp. Try sitching those tubes with tubes on the left side and see if anything happens, or if you've got'em, plug in some spares on the right side and see if anything changes.

If you haven't changed your set up at all since you put in the new pre-amp it shouldn't be much different. Try some other recordings and try a mono source like you can get from a tuner (normally there is a mono switch) or a test/set set up recording.

Does it have a balance control?

I know it may seem obvious but once I forgot that my new C2200 had bass and treble controls and went through two sets of tubes to get rid of the brightness when the problem was my 4 year-old grandson playing with controls i forgot i had.