2. amps-preamps
  3. 1253067970

No preamp 'Balance' control?

Are preamps made without a Balance control? If so, can you live without control of balance (happily)? Depending on the recording, I make slight balance adjustments to lock everything in balance. Is this some sort of purist approach (if so, why not use a seperate volume control for each channel), or what's up with no balance control?
In advance, thanks!
louisl

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
4,188 posts
 
I would never consider a linestage/preamp without a balance control, preferably operated by remote control. Once you have used a remotely controlled balance that allows for minute balance changes, you will appreciate what that does to locking in the sound. It is particularly important with a phono setup because cartridge channel balance can be quite a bit off.

If it is done with a resistor ladder, and a logic circuit to set each channel separately, there is only one control per channel in the circuit (the same as a volume control without balance control).
larryi
4,188 posts
 

Unless there is a gross imbalance, it is hard to know what one is missing without such a control until one gets to experiment with such controls.  The best way to hear what happens when you change balance is with remote-controlled balance adjustment (instantaneous comparison). Even extraordinarily small changes can be heard, and better balance does improve the sound.  I use to have a Mark Levinson No. 32 preamp in my system.  This unit allowed for .1 db increments of change in balance and/or volume.  I could not reliably hear even a 1.0 db change in volume with most music, but, a change in balance was another matter; I could easily hear a 0.2 db change in balance.  When center images where perfectly placed, the sound was better to me.  With the Mark Levinson, I could permanently program different channel balance for different sources, which helped with my phono setup because my cartridge had an imbalance of a little more than 1.0 db as compared to other sources.

I insist on some form of balance control, which is second only to remote control of volume level as a must-have feature on a linestage or preamp.

More to discover