tubenube Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I just obtained a pair of Heresy's and I am really hearing my system for the first time (I had fairly inefficent speakers before). It has lead to an interesting problem I thought the experts here could help with. I need to preface the 'problem' with a brief description of my system: An Oracle Alexandria turntable (Adcom cart) and an Ah Tjoeb! CD player 'feeding' a Conrad Johnson PV4 preamp. That in turn, drives a Decware SET SE84C-S (Zen Select) which powers the Heresy's via CAT5 speaker wires. All other interconnects are from MAD audio. I REALLY sounds good (very clean & 'precise') but here's the problem: While toying with speaker placement I noticed what I felt to be a slight 'balance' problem. Listening to either the CD or turntable the left channel seemed a little 'stonger' than the right (or the right a little weaker). Anything dead in the center channel (female singer, etc) would appear just to left of center. Vinyl imbalance was slightly more pronounced (to the left). I could easily compensate using the preamps balance control (or even lean to the right a bit) but I felt something was 'wrong' and decided to isolate the problem. If any component is 'suspect' it would be the Conrad Johnson since it's getting somewhat 'long in the tooth' and a tube (or two) might need replacing. So the first thing I did was simply reverse the inputs into the Decware amp thinking if the 'problem' reversed itself it would be in the chain prior to the amp. Thing is, once I reversed the inputs the balance is *perfect*. The same CD/LP that 'leaned to the left' before is now dead center. Of course I could just leave it as is but subconsciously I'd be bothered a) I'm listening to things 'backwards' because I have a problem I haven't resolved. This just doesn't make sense. Anyone got any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclonecj Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 As a first guess, try to switch them back. Maybe it was a bad connection. Since I know this solution is way to easy, check all of the drivers. A bad tweeter in a Heresy can give strange results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I agree with answer 1: connection integrity. Get Caig ProGold and clean-up all connections. Oxides build up on low power connections and the result is what you are describing. Movement of the connectors when you reversed the channels wiped the connections clean enough so the problem went away. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 could it be your ears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I'd check the polarity of the wires connecting amp to speaker. Just to make sure the positive connects to positive and that one side is not out of phase. When I inadvertenly reversed things on one side, the system sounded okay but something was wrong. Positioning myself equilaterally between the speakers made them sound unbalanced; or, actually, the center image seemed a bit better when my head was to one side, or sometimes the other side, but never quite correct. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubenube Posted May 2, 2003 Author Share Posted May 2, 2003 Thanks for all the tips. The lesson here is always try the simplest solution to a problem first. It wasn't an 'asymetrical polarity' of the speaker wires or my ears (although that had entered into my mind before I switched inputs). And god forbid it to be a bad driver in one of my 'new' Heresy's The easiest thing to try was to get my Caig DeOxit and ProGold out and treat all my connects. That did the trick. I feel somewhat embarrassed I didn't think of that but the gold on gold contacts and big ol screw down RCA's on the 'big buck' interconnects lulled me into a sense of (false) security. The REAL nice thing is cleaning up the interconnect contacts makes the system sound even better than before! A 'titch' more definition and bottom end is the reward for my effort. Again, thanks for the help & advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Don't feel embarrassed about not finding the simple solution to a problem! sheesh, I have made some really silly, obvious mistakes, and find that those have probably been my best teachers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Yea Erik is dead on there no need to feel embarrassed . I once did major changes to one of my Scotts and in a haste to hook it back up I inadvertently plugged my tuner into the tape outs this created some kind of weird impedance problem and thinned the bottom end out of the amp. I let it play for 2 weeks this way thinking maybe it would break in LOL !! I ended up deciding to reverse what I had done and when removing the amp from my system found my mistake. Man did I feel stupid ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I was trying to think of some wise A$$ response to Craig's post. Could not think of a good one. I would just note, I would prefer Craig working on my amp on a "Stupid Day"; than most other Techs working on my amp on their good days! Craig is committed to bird doggin' something that does not sound right. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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