Speaker balance

[davedotco]

This could get rather difficult.

The problem with these kind of issues is that it becomes obsessive and once you have decided you are hearing an imbalance, it is very difficult to 'unhear' it.

I have dicumented on here, on more than one occasion, my obsession with having speaker cables of exactly the same length. If I know they are of different length the soundstage skews to one side and nothing I can do will correct it.

Of course if I do not know that there are unequal lengths, then I have no such problem, weird eh.

I have tested this with third party conducted blind tests which show that there is no difference, but if I know they are different, I hear the imbalance.

This is clearly 'all in the mind' and I totally accept this but even so, I still hear the imbalance!

PS. This is one of several experiences that have taught me that subjective, sighted tests are generally not to be trusted.

Very much agreed. I experienced this in my room also. The setup is not symmetrical and even though everything is measured (including amp output) sometimes the visual queues would overwrite hearing and make me believe the image shifts to one side.

Worth pointing out it worked on my mates as much as me.

To combat this I actually moved the rack off centre however it "looks" central and it is all fine now.

That's a good trick, all BS has to do is to move his wall...*good*

 

[Strictly Stereo]

with Dali your not meant to toe them in and yes one speaker is near a corner but 1 meter from the corner but the other speaker is open nothing next to it that’s the quieter one .

the one that sits next to the corner is the dominant one which must be amplified sitting even a meter away from the corner

My best guess is that you hearing reflections from the side wall which are either missing on the other side or sufficiently diffused or delayed that your brain dials them out. Move the speaker away from the side wall. Other options include using the balance control on your amplifier or the EQ/calibration system in your AV receiver to adjust the levels, or you could fit an acoustic panel at the first reflection point for that speaker, to absorb some of the sound and prevent it from being reflected back to your listening position.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

with Dali your not meant to toe them in and yes one speaker is near a corner but 1 meter from the corner but the other speaker is open nothing next to it that’s the quieter one .

the one that sits next to the corner is the dominant one which must be amplified sitting even a meter away from the corner

My best guess is that you hearing reflections from the side wall which are either missing on the other side or sufficiently diffused or delayed that your brain dials them out. Move the speaker away from the side wall. Other options include using the balance control on your amplifier or the EQ/calibration system in your AV receiver to adjust the levels, or you could fit an acoustic panel at the first reflection point for that speaker, to absorb some of the sound and prevent it from being reflected back to your listening position.

I’ve sorted it out now I just moved the speaker along a bit more so it’s more then a meter from the corner but in the same corner I have the living room window which could reflect of the window but do have net curtains up but there’s not much more I can do as I have my setup on the longest part of the room .

Also the speakers are not dead bang in the centre of the room they nearly are but impossible for me to move the setup anymore into the centre but I am just basically getting away with it where they are now .

i have managed to get a bit more focused sound since I’ve moved them which is great but it just goes to show it’s worth checking speaker position to see if you have got things setup correctly .