Want to Blow Up My Stereo


If anyone has ideas as to the culprit of my issue I'd sure love to hear it.

For I don't know how long I've had an issue with my stereo putting the center of the image just inside the right speaker. This week I decided to "fix" the issue, and began trying everything I could think of. I had previously tried all the usual suspects: swapping the left and right interconnects, swapping the speakers, changing speaker positions. I've added a preamp (no effect on this issue), changed CD players, interconnects, and speaker cables. I thought for the longest the issue was the 24" dropoff in depth of the back wall, as the sound "pools" just inside that dropoff. But this week I've tried even putting the stereo on the flat, long wall instead of the short wall. I've also tried reversing the polarity of the interconnects and the phase on the preamp. (As an aside, reversing the polarity of only the interconnects from CDP to preamp resulted in a mirror image of the image shift, but the sound was very diffuse with no bass at all, and inverting the phase on the preamp had very little effect on the sound.) I've tried moving my room treatments (GIK absorption panels and Echo Busters diffusers) with very little if any effect. I tried moving the speakers completely against the side walls, very close together, and with the left speaker 3 feet closer to the side wall than the right. The image doesn't move. I just want to take a sledgehammer to my entire system. I haven't built a (I don't even want to think about how much money) ridiculously expensive system by sane person's standards (just ask my wife) to have some stupid issue like this that doesn't exist with my "normal" investment home theater.

And if you had any idea how many times I've had to edit this post to remove foul language and inappropriate phrases I think you'd feel my pain a bit more...or maybe not.

At any rate, please help.

Link to system: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1258245716&view
aggielaw
Howdy, guys. Here's the update. I did as Tvad suggested, and connected the left preamp output to the right amp input and vice versa. The sound shifted left of center. Replaced the cables to proper connection, and the image shifted right of center. Did the same with the CDP output to preamp input, with same results - image shifted left of center when cables sent to opposite channel inputs, and went back to right of center when connected properly.

The pre and amp are both SS, but the Ayon CD-2 uses 4 6H30 tubes, 2 per channel. I'm going to assume it's the tubes and try at least 2 of the other 3 sets of tubes I have for it. If the issue isn't fixed with any of the tubes I'll pull out the Opus 21 and make sure the problem is the CDP. If the issue exists with the Opus as well I'm going to be flat mind-boggled.

Again, thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this!
I'd suggest installing the non-tubed Opus 21 (into the same inputs you use for the Ayon) and try the IC swap before you mess with the tubes in the Ayon...but that's me.

Also, if you're using balanced ICs from the Ayon to the pre, you might try swapping the left and the right ICs (not criss-crossing them) and then listening for the channel balance anomaly. As Almarg mentioned, it could be due to a faulty interconnect.

Good luck!
Update: it was a tube imbalance. I unpacked the Opus 21, and the image is dead center.

Thanks to all who contributed!

Now to figure out how to fix the tube imbalance... :-|