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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
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Send your system to me. I will make certain that every little-bitty piece of it is totally beaten, crushed, mangled, stomped on, spit on, and twisted beyond recognition.. THEN blown to bits. (I enjoy destroying things) (8^Q...
I will send a few remaining bits of scortched and broken stuff back to you in a trophy case with the "Image right and die" or what ever slogan you want, along with a video of the complete process.
I await delivery.
(PS I haven't a clue as to what could cause the problem if you have done all the stuff you say.. A great mystery.)
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
3,575 posts
 
Aggielaw - You mentioned swapping speakers. Did you physically swapped speakers or just swapped amps channels. Did you do both? There is still chance that one amp's channel might be weaker. Could you play 1kHz test tone and measure it on the speakers with DVM?
seditious3
183 posts
 
Blowing up a stereo...isn't that what Brilliant Pebbles are for? http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

Get a test disc from stereophile or somewhere else to test polarity, etc.
elevick
2,439 posts
 
Headphones: Try a pair. That will tell you if you are crazy or really do have an issue...
samhar
1,034 posts
 
I would start with the speaker stands. If the horizontal planes aren't matching degrees and heights the speakers will fire at different points (angles). The right stand may be pointing it's tweeter and mid driver more directly at your ear. To effectively check I used a Husky Digital Level($36) this is key it reads out to 0.00 and something straight bridging the stands. Next I would place the speakers on the stands and check the degrees on the speaker faces. When the angles match move on to the heights of the tweeters center to center with the 8' straight edge.
Move the position of your chair forward until the imaging become to "soft" less defined. Check distance from nose to tweeter with string. Now move your chair away until you get sharper images that you like. Recheck distances with string. If the image is still to the right move your head side to side to see if this moves image towards center. If it does move chair and and mark.

Hope something here helps.
As you might be able to tell I've done some chasing/hair pulling/Hell time too.

Sam

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