Sorry @jacksky I was being snarky.
The intermittent cable was a larger problem than static or other oddities with cable lifters… nut some people swear by them. Just not me.
Position of speaker cables and irregular behavior
I move my speakers around a lot, experiment with placement, also move a few different sets in/out of rotation. Reason: I have a persistent problem in that my left speaker is dominant. Playing in mono the image is centered about 2 feet left of center. In stereo, not only are vocals shifted left, the right side just doesn’t carry the same level of volume , soundstage and depth.
Equipment: Bryston 7b monoblocks, Bryston pre, Opp BDP105, Grover Huffman Empress speaker cables, Siltech xlr interconnects.
I have swapped/reversed every single component to try isolating a culprit. No luck.
Although there are differences in left/right side walls in the room, the parts that matter ( reflection points ) are basically the same.
my speaker cables are 8ft so I have about 3-4 ft of excess. When I move the cables around it affects the dominance to either lessen or exaggerate to the left. Sometimes I get close to almost centering the image , when that happens the right side blooms open. But it lasts a few hours or days and then I’m back to playing with speaker and cable placement. I’ve suspended the cables off the floor , sometimes helps temporarily.
I have tried adjusting the balance on the preamp . that makes the volume equal but not the brilliance of music which remains duller on the right.
There are even times when I’m listening to a song and as I’m listening the image shifts either more to left or more to center. I thought it might be a sound pressure issue in my room, then I move the speaker cables and it gets better....for a while.
its not my hearing, when I attend audio exhibitions or meets the sound is equal.
I have moved my speaker cables so many times, like bending a wire hanger back and forth, they eventually broke. Grover huffman was kind enough to repair my speaker cables...twice.. Have some bending going on to fasten on binding posts.
I sprayed Deoxit on all connections, that didn’t make a difference.
i routed all power cords neatly and away from speaker cables.
I’m thinking of getting 4ft speaker cables so that I have a straight run. Otherwise I’m out of ideas.
any help?
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Ahah!,,,, I swapped every conceivable... switched every permutable..... flipped pos/neg , reversed flow... AND THEN: switched the speakers again. Sound field moved to opposite side! shook all connecting items, and then shook the speaker. darn it! The wire going to the electrostatic panel is LOOSE. i can now get it to shift to one side or balance to the center by giving a light push at the base of the ESL panel. I am sooooooo relieved. This process took me, maybe14-16 hours of fussin’. I CAN deal with this. I have real options (resolder connection, get new panels, wedge a dime in there...) many thanks to all that nudged me along and a very happy holiday season.
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Keep going @jacksky … Did you swap the RCAs feeding the amps yet? |
Let me ask… how far are your speakers apart center to center? what is your distance to each speaker? how close to each other can you position your speakers? I would pull them together like 5.5-6ft apart center to center than listen from about 6ft in equilateral triangle and see if it gets better. |
+1 for @ghdprentice |
sorry, a little delay in getting back tot he nice folks that took time to offer help... I thought it best to be methodical in carrying out changes so I decided to start at back end. switch left/right speakers, then cables, and so on. first think I learned is that I am not as limber as I used to be, its a pain bending and doing things with 2 hands that could use 3 or 4. before touching anything I tried self testing my hearing so I listened to familiar music on headphones. image is balanced and centered. then I listened to my system warts and all as is, nearfield. then I turned around to listen with my back to the speakers. image, brightness and intensity is consistently skewed left. I don't think its my hearing. I physically switched L/R speaker positions. image still centered left. I physically switched L/R speaker cables. Image still centered left. tomorrow I will switch L/R monoblock amps followed by interconnects. ya know, this kinda stuff can drive a person crazy. when I moved the speakers I noticed the right (weak one) is a little wobbly, started turning the foot screws. I coulda sworn it made a little difference....then nah, just wishing.
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Ok, lots to do today: clean cable terminations with Flitz try an alternate set of cables SPL test each speaker ( someone please recommend an ap I can load on my android Galaxy phone) get my ears flushed and tested (Dec 3 so results will have to wait on that one) Regarding room symmetry, 15x22. With speakers at front and sitting position at rear: front wall is solid bare Sheetrock. Right wall is solid with large centered window. Left wall first 4 ft is solid, then 7ft opening to adjacent room then solid to rear. Rear wall is almost completely open to adjacent room. Floor is wood with large area rug. i will do a walk around to measure differences. |
as I remember the expression pop(p)ed has an entirely salacious meaning you surely didn’t intend? <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> No idea what you mean, ok then, slapped him up side the head, hows that? :-) Deformed his ear, POPPED his ear drum.. You know the three stooges stuff. I had to look up what salacious ment.. Mechanics and salacious don’t normally wind up in the same sentance.. :-) Just sayin’ Regards |
Agree with preceding. Swap with other cables. SPL tests each time. I'd want to know how acoustically symmetrical your room was, overall. You could play some white noise on and walk around the room with your spl meter/phone on and just see what happens. Things bunch up in weird ways that our eyes don't always predict. |
A single speaker playing at a time. And some app to measure SPL or the spectrum. |
Simple test. SPL one at a time. It will tell you if its the speaker output or not. If there is no SPL difference in the room. Go get your hearing checked. For all I know it could be that time your brother poped you in the ear and deformed it.. Weirder thing have happened.. A few times here people swore their hearing was fine to find out in certain rooms (like their own) they hear exactly what your explaining. Off center and low volume.
Regards. |
Ghdprentice; I switched L with Right speaker. I swapped the tower speaker (Thiel CS5) and put Egglestonworks Andras in place. Now have Martin Logan Monoliths - this didn’t help. MC; I have 2 other sets of speaker cables, I’ll try those. I’ll even try reversing direction one at a time. holmz: I don’t understand what you mean by playing speaker singularly and using REW, can you explain? I will try taming reflection one side at a time at the usual mirror spot side wall. Regarding rear wall reflection behind speaker, these are planers, I think they are supposed to utilize that reflected sound, not deaden it. But I’m game, I’ll try it. |
Reading along I started thinking, "I wonder if this guy has moved his cables so much he's worn them out?" Then later sure enough, broken. The thing about insulation, you can't see inside. Could be enough strands broken to affect the sound but not enough to totally stop it. Moving them around jostles them into touching. But electricity doesn't like to jump gaps. After a while the temporary connection erodes away and you are back to square one. Just a guess. The way to check, new cables. Don't have to be fancy, this is one time when lamp cord will do just fine. You could even just swap cables side to side. I know you said you've swapped "every single component" but too many of us fail to see wire as a component. |