balance query

[denti alligator]

So I've been tweaking my speaker positions and noticed that the balance is off on my Stereomour II. Always thought it was fine, but guess I was wrong. Anyway, in adjusting it I see that it has to be quite a bit closer to the right channel to be "centered." Is the exact distance between the clockwise and counterclockwise limits on the knob usually going to be center, or is there variance?

[fullheadofnothing]

There is a simple fix for this, it requires a small screwdriver.

1) set the balance control to the position you feel optimal

2) loosen the setscrew on the balance knob

3) point line wherever you want the line to point

4) tighten the set screw

[denti alligator]

There is a simple fix for this, it requires a small screwdriver.

1) set the balance control to the position you feel optimal

2) loosen the setscrew on the balance knob

3) point line wherever you want the line to point

4) tighten the set screw

Yes, I figured this out. My question is: is it indicative of some kind of problem that the balance is "off" like this, i.e., that it is not close to the center point of the knob's range?

[fullheadofnothing]

Why does this matter? The balance pot is there to fix a problem. It fixes the problem. Why does this matter?

[Doc B.]

It's a balance control and it's there to be turned. There are lots of threads on this forum about slight imbalance situations when volume pots are at low settings (not just in Bottlehead gear, in any gear with carbon track pots). This takes care of that.

[denti alligator]

Why does this matter? The balance pot is there to fix a problem. It fixes the problem. Why does this matter?

Let me put it this way: if I had to turn the knob so far clockwise as to be near its limit in order to get a proper balance would that not indicate that something was not right?

I get your point, though. I was just asking.

[Doc B.]

I think it would be a problem if you turned the knob all the way and still could not get it into balance. You would have to try doing things like checking balance at different listening levels and swapping tubes to see what the imbalance is caused by.

[kgoss]

I had that problem one time. Turned out I had one speaker wired in phase and the other wired out of phase. My preamp inverts phase so when I finally figured out the cause I wired both speakers out of phase and the image was back between the speakers. Dumb mistake but it took me some time to find it.

[Paul Birkeland]

Unplug your speakers and play a 60hz tone through your amp at a high level.  Measure the AC voltage at the speaker posts.  Good channel balance will have these voltages be pretty close (which can be relative in terms of dB, use 20*log(v1/v2) to find the actual difference).

-PB

[Karl5150]

Sam,
While of course the BH crew are absolutely correct ("that's what it's there for") I know my mild OCD would struggle with that.
I had a similar problem with my Seductor: It sounded fine but one channel was much lower. Doc took one look at a posted photo and pointed to my OT miss-wire. Now the added balance knob on the Quickie sits almost dead center at all but the lowest listening levels. Just something to look at.
Karl