Possible fault with KEFs or NAIM

[SohoAudiophile]

Hi All,

I've been living happily with my first ever audiophile setup for about 8 months now.

Speakers: KEF R3 Metas & S3 Stands,
Streamer/dac/pre:NAIM NAC N-272 streamer/dac/pre
Power: NAIM NAP 200DR

A few weeks ago I started to realise that my left channel felt like it was audibly quieter than the right. In the NAIM's controller app you can switch the balance and I listened to both carefully and the left was definitely quieter.

In fact it's not just quieter, it seems like the right has much more bass extension and a fuller, higher quality sound. The left seems to have more mid and has that hollow 'gramophone' sound.

I tried the usual:
- Switching the speakers in the back of the amp (no change)
- Checking that I hadn’t put either speaker out of phase (I haven’t)
- Physically swapping the speakers to see if the culprit is room acoustics (It isn’t)
- Trying the alternative biwire terminals (no help)

I've also tried disconnecting the HF/LW bridge behind the speakers and listening to just the bass side-by-side, and just the HF. But in that case it became quite difficult to identify any problem at all.

I've contacted my dealer who has been very helpful but in order to get the speakers to them under warranty I have to wrap them up and post them 200 miles. I'm loathe to do this if there isn't a good reason.

I've tried testing using an iPad graphic equaliser app and there do seem to be consistent differences but the microphone on that is weak, I'm not sure how much low frequency it can detect and small differences in placement etc can affect the result.

I'm now starting to doubt myself and wonder if it's just me. Sometimes the difference seems obvious and ruins enjoyment of certain tracks Other times I move the speakers and I can't hear it any more. OR it could be one of the NAIMS and I'm just getting mixed up changing speaker cables and locations and all that.

Highly stressful! So I thought I'd check the brains on here!

Is there an objective test that you would do in this situation? What sounds or tracks should I play? Beyond relying on my own hearing is there any (affortable) equipment that I can absolutely depend on to test the performance of all the equipment here?

Thanks in advance for any help!

John

 

[podknocker]

Hi there.

If you've swapped the speakers over and swapped speakers and it's still quiet on the left channel, it does sound like the NAIM NAP 200DR left channel is at fault.

Have you swapped the outputs from the streamer to the NAIM NAP 200DR to see if it's the left streamer output or the left NAIM NAP 200DR output at fault?

If you swap left and right from the streamer to the power amp and the left is still quiet, then it's the power amp at fault.

If you swap channels to the power amp and the right channel is quiet, then your NAIM NAC N-272 streamer/dac/pre left channel is faulty.

Someone please correct me if I've got that wrong!

 

[daytona600]

Do you have/or can borrow another amp/speakers to check / compare