Left channel 1dB louder than the right

[m00dawg]

Wow lots of awesome help, thanks everyone! To address these, I'm going to try the headshell trick Alec mentioned when I get home today just to see. I noticed the bias was on both of my headshells but certainly worth a go just the same.

VU meters are calibrated as they are on my DAW (Ableton Live) and my audio device (FocusRite Saffire Pro 40). I can also swap left for right and the bias moves, so I know it's not a calibration issue there. I also tried using another phono pre-amp so it's not there either.

@Aural, I actually don't really hear a difference and usually listen on speakers instead of headphones anywhere where it would be less noticeable. This was mostly for recording and making sure I'm doing my due diligence on record/stylus wear. And also a bit annoying to my OCD side

As far as the 540p, I've been thinking about eventually moving to MCs so I liked that the 640 had the option. Is the 640's MC side not particularly good? I know good MC amps involve transformers (which the 640 doesn't have)? My next cartridge will probably be a high output MC (Denon DL-110) but, of course, that will work on the MM side. So I don't need the MC today - was just trying to avoid buying another phono-pre tomorrow or so was the idea.

Thanks again for the help all!

[Steerpike_jhb]

As said, most cartridges don't have a channel balance as good as 1dB.
I notice (via meters only) an imbalance that is quite marked on many, many records, and it differs from record to record, and not consistemtly in favour of the same side, L or R. Some are out as much as 4 or 5 dB.

That's what the Balance control is for.

[m00dawg]

Thanks for the help all! I'm still trying to find a mirror just so I can see if the azimuth is off by any amount now so I can see if I can adjust the headshell a bit. I decided on not buying a Sumiko headshell just yet though. 1-2dB isn't too terrible and I'd rather spend that money on a better cartridge anyway.

[Thomas_A]

Azimuth adjustment will affect not channel balance much, but crosstalk will change, and it is a good thing to optimize:

http://www.adjustplus.de/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=98

With respect to channel balance I had much better channel balance with the JICO SAS stylus mounted on a V15Vx body compared to the original stylus. From ca 1.5 db difference to within 0.2 dB.

Thomas

[m00dawg]

Wow lots of awesome help, thanks everyone! To address these, I'm going to try the headshell trick Alec mentioned when I get home today just to see. I noticed the bias was on both of my headshells but certainly worth a go just the same.

VU meters are calibrated as they are on my DAW (Ableton Live) and my audio device (FocusRite Saffire Pro 40). I can also swap left for right and the bias moves, so I know it's not a calibration issue there. I also tried using another phono pre-amp so it's not there either.

@Aural, I actually don't really hear a difference and usually listen on speakers instead of headphones anywhere where it would be less noticeable. This was mostly for recording and making sure I'm doing my due diligence on record/stylus wear. And also a bit annoying to my OCD side

As far as the 540p, I've been thinking about eventually moving to MCs so I liked that the 640 had the option. Is the 640's MC side not particularly good? I know good MC amps involve transformers (which the 640 doesn't have)? My next cartridge will probably be a high output MC (Denon DL-110) but, of course, that will work on the MM side. So I don't need the MC today - was just trying to avoid buying another phono-pre tomorrow or so was the idea.

Thanks again for the help all!

Just as an update. I have yet to buy my new cartridge, but I did spring for the 640P and, OH MAN, it's many times better than my TCC-750. More detail, better transients and overall clarity. Before I had to muck with my EQ quite a bit, but now I am pretty happy with using a flat EQ for listening to records. BIG difference. Looking forward to my DL-110 to see how it compares.

[mmarston]

As said, most cartridges don't have a channel balance as good as 1dB.
I notice (via meters only) an imbalance that is quite marked on many, many records, and it differs from record to record, and not consistemtly in favour of the same side, L or R. Some are out as much as 4 or 5 dB.

That's what the Balance control is for.

Same as my experience. With stereo you can't always go by the meters anyway. I have a lot of late '50s and early early '60s top 40 stuff that's all over the place. Some tunes sound correctly balanced when the meters look way off, and if adjusted by the meters will sound wrong. This is especially true with the hard left-right mixes common in those years. Others are just out of balance at the mastering phase. Trust your ears & use the balance knob if needed.

If you want to check your cartridge/preamp balance vs. meter calibration, find a clean copy of any *true* mono disc, by which I mean something cut before 1958, when stereo cutters started to become widespread. (Mono records cut with a stereo cutter may also be out of balance.) Make sure your test disc doesn't have mistracking damage as this may skew the results. Play some music, note the channel balance, then swap the left & right channel cables from the TT & play the same section again. If the higher reading was on the left, then moves to the right, there's an imbalance at the cartridge. My experience is that alignment doesn't affect this all that much. But knowing may make it psychologically easier to nudge that balance knob off center a bit...

[m00dawg]

As said, most cartridges don't have a channel balance as good as 1dB.
I notice (via meters only) an imbalance that is quite marked on many, many records, and it differs from record to record, and not consistemtly in favour of the same side, L or R. Some are out as much as 4 or 5 dB.

That's what the Balance control is for.

Same as my experience. With stereo you can't always go by the meters anyway. I have a lot of late '50s and early early '60s top 40 stuff that's all over the place. Some tunes sound correctly balanced when the meters look way off, and if adjusted by the meters will sound wrong. This is especially true with the hard left-right mixes common in those years. Others are just out of balance at the mastering phase. Trust your ears & use the balance knob if needed.

If you want to check your cartridge/preamp balance vs. meter calibration, find a clean copy of any *true* mono disc, by which I mean something cut before 1958, when stereo cutters started to become widespread. (Mono records cut with a stereo cutter may also be out of balance.) Make sure your test disc doesn't have mistracking damage as this may skew the results. Play some music, note the channel balance, then swap the left & right channel cables from the TT & play the same section again. If the higher reading was on the left, then moves to the right, there's an imbalance at the cartridge. My experience is that alignment doesn't affect this all that much. But knowing may make it psychologically easier to nudge that balance knob off center a bit...

Hmm I don't have a true mono record from those dates but I hadn't though of the mono versus stereo cutters - that's a good point! I do have a repress of a Dick Dale album that's mono, but I would be incredibly surprised if it wasn't using recut masters. I will say that basically all the records I have, stereo or otherwise, it's been constant - left is always louder by .5-2 dB. So I think it is the cartridge.

Not really a big deal since I'm going to upgrade my cartridge soon anyway but I am curious how the new one handles this just to see. If it's still off by a bit, I'll likely just fix the balance for recordings but otherwise probably leave it alone for normal listening unless it sounds way off.

[Jim Leach]

I didn't see this mentioned so I'll chime in.

Load up an original mono recording and swap the phase of one channel at the cartridge. Then play the record and adjust the arm until you can get virtually zero output.

Then try a stereo record again (after correcting phase) and see how that does.

I have a similar problem currently I am certain is my phono pre and I have to use my clumsy balance controls (three dB in my case) to get the playback balanced.

[m00dawg]

I didn't see this mentioned so I'll chime in.

Load up an original mono recording and swap the phase of one channel at the cartridge. Then play the record and adjust the arm until you can get virtually zero output.

Then try a stereo record again (after correcting phase) and see how that does.

I have a similar problem currently I am certain is my phono pre and I have to use my clumsy balance controls (three dB in my case) to get the playback balanced.

Ah yeah I think it was mentioned here but I might have also found that trick elsewhere. Been wanting to try it since it's really clever and probably fun to do! I'm waiting on a new cartridge though since there is no sense in trying it now if I'm going to get a new cartridge in a few weeks anyway. For now, it's not bad enough.

That and I, too, have clumsy balance controls

[Larry I]

Most cartridge manufacturers think that a 1-1.5 db difference between channels is entirely within specifications and the kind of deviation from perfection that is normal and acceptable.

If this slight channel imbalance is not bothering you, you should ignore it. Yes, I think one should do everything possible to optimize setup, but, do not misalign the cartridge in order to chase down and mitigate the channel imbalance. It is possible to reduce the imbalance with an incorrect azimuth alignment--DO NOT DO THAT.

I generally insist that equipment have a balance control. This is particularly important with vinyl setups because cartridges, step up transformers, etc., do have such mild imperfections. I recall that a reviewer of a $12,000 ZYX cartridge found a 2 db imbalance. To me, that is excessive, particularly for something THAT expensive.

[Jim Leach]

Well, yeah, it should be as mechanically correct as you can make the set up before making MINOR tweaks to see if you can improve further.

I guess I should have been clear that you should not throw a good set-up out the window to correct the other problem because you will likely do more harm than good in that case...

[Shadowman82]

Don't allot of modern receivers allow you to adjust the channel volume ? If you have receiver that let's you adjust both the L/R front channel individually than just adjust them until they match .

[butttaster]

Hello all,

This is my first post on this site so please forgive the thread resurrection and my awesome name. I have an SL-1200 as with an AT150mlx (fluid dampener, external PS, blah, blah, blah... it's still an SL-1200). I have a channel imbalance as well depending on what record I play. It is 70% of the time left biased, 10% even and 20% of the time right biased. I have the "Hi-Fi News" test LP and the channel balance track at -20db will come up spot on even, BUT, the other tests with sine waves, on that test LP, that are a higher db, are similar to the results of music LPs. Usually left biased. I've noticed about 1-1.5 db higher level in the left channel typically. I've got a close to perfect Baerwald alignment, the cartridge is a "C" hair from straight up and down and the stylus, right now, is almost perfectly straight balanced. I say almost because I do have it cocked ever so slightly to favor the right channel due to the imbalance (what's crosstalk? LOL).

The tonearm wires have been replaced, RCAs to board resoldered and VTF+AS is set properly. In fact AS adjustmenst make no difference on balance.

Is this a natural cartridge imperfection as well or do I need to pull more hair out?

[m00dawg]

Since this post, I did indeed get the Denon DL-110 and the balance is much much better. It's not perfect necessarily but I think it's more to do with the particular record than the cartridge. 1-2 dB really isn't all that much and with the Shure I just accepted it and balanced accordingly, but usually only when I was recording. If I was just playing the record, I didn't notice it enough to bother. The Denon even less.

Not sure if that helps you or not, but there ya go