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Phono cartridge left / right output voltage differ

Just received a new Denon DL-S1 cartridge and noticed that the output voltage for the left and right channels are different.The left is .16 mv and the right is .18 mv.Though this is only a .02 mv difference it turns out to be about a 12% difference between channels.

Will I hear this channel imbalance ? Should I send it back ?

Thanks
carbonfiberone
dre_j
159 posts
 
Al is correct.

1.02305044895... dB difference

Dre
carbonfiberone OP
3 posts
 
First I'd like to thank all of you for help in making a decision on what to do.All your comments have been appreciated.

I finally got something I could sink my teeth in after being told that the difference between the channels would be somewhere around 1 db or less.Thanks for that.That doesn't sound like a lot and if it turns out to be a problem I do have a balance control on my preamp.

So I've mounted and aligned the cartridge and had time to casually listen to one side of a Lp.Of coarse in the back of my head I think the right channel is louder but I'm really not sure.I will have some time over the weekend to listen more critically.Plus I can compare it to another cartridge.

Thanks again for your help
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Yes, Al and Dre win the cupie doll. I glanced past the milli. :-)
larryi
3,781 posts
 
I must have remember the formula incorrectly--I thought it was 10 log (P1/P2).

In any case, one db is not that big a difference if you have a balance control.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I must have remember the formula incorrectly--I thought it was 10 log (P1/P2).
It is. However we are dealing with voltage, not power, and it is 20log(V1/V2) as Mulveling explained. Since for a given load power is proportional to the square of voltage, the logarithm gets multiplied by an additional factor of 2 when calculating from voltages.

log(X squared) = 2(log(X))

Regards,
-- Al
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