tlarwa Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 System is a Fisher 400 tube receiver, Parks Audio Budgie phono preamp, Empire 398 tt and Klipsch Forte II speakers. Here's the issue; I was listening at a volume level much lower than usual (my wife had friends over)... around 1.5 - 2 on the volume knob (I usually listen around 3-4). I noticed that the image, which is typically dead center, was shifted towards the right channel. Thinking is may have been the recording, I tried several other albums, all with the same result. When turning the balance fully left and right, it was apparent that the left speaker was a little quieter than the right one. All the drivers are working fine, and both channels sounded good, but the left was indeed quieter than the right (which was causing the image to shift towards the right). Well, once my wife's friends left and I was able to turn up the volume a bit, the image snapped right back into focus and was dead center again, as it ususally is. It seems that once the volume knob gets above 2.5 or so the issue goes away. I'm at a loss as to why I'd have this issue only at very low volume levels. Any idea if this is a tube issue, or something else? By the way, I listened at the same low level through my headphones, and the balance issue didn't seem to be there). Any help or ideas would be appreciated! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 There are people much more knowledgeable than me, but it could be a dead spot in the potentiometer. Those can be serviced with DeoxIT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 I agree with mustang guy. Sounds like the pot, a good cleaning might help. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlarwa Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 Would a "dead spot" just cause the volume to diminish, or would it cause the whole channel to cut-out? Seems to me it would be the latter, but that's just a guess. I can certainlyDeoxIT the pot, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlarwa Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 Wow, weird formatting on that last reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingfield Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 I agree with the attenuator being the issue, but odd about the headphones being ok though. You're saying that the headphones are correct at all volume knob positions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlarwa Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 I agree with the attenuator being the issue, but odd about the headphones being ok though. You're saying that the headphones are correct at all volume knob positions? Yes. Leaving the volume knob at the same position and then listening through the headphones, I do not hear the imbalance towards the right channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Is it the same on all inputs? Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlarwa Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 Is it the same on all inputs? Shakey There's only one input that's useable for the phono pre (the AUX input). I don't run run a digital source, although I can run my iphone into it. I guess the only thing that would rule out as an issue is the phono preamp though. The only other test would be to run the tt into the Fisher's phono stage. I can try that to see if it makes a difference. I'm also going to put my Frugel-Horns into the system to see if it's the speakers or the amp that's the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Do you leave the speakers on when you plug in the headphones? Not sure how it works looking at a schematic. I was thinking it might have something to do with the loudness contour switches. If you can clean those, if might help, even though the headphone are connected to the output trannies and anything upstream should effect both speakers and phones. Craig might have a lot more insight on this. I'm sure he has worked on these before. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Probably just a typical old volume control, what's new and made you take notice is running it at such a low volume setting. Back in the day, McIntosh threw out 4x as many controls for L-R tracking than they accepted. The tracking is worst on the bottom end. Tracking on pots with an on-off switch is even worse. I once had a customer bring in an old Fisher preamp with a defective control with an on-off switch. After replacing the control he had me put the original one back in and used a power strip for on-off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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