Biased towards right channel after Speedball upgrade

Linus1330 · 3605

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Offline thewatergod

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Reply #15 on: January 26, 2017, 07:41:31 AM
Don't worry, you're not alone.

I'm having pretty much exactly the same thing going on minus the variable of the Speedball upgrade, as I wanted to make sure everything was hunky dory in my stock Crack before I went and installed it.

Anyway, Doc B. suggested in my thread that I give it some time for the tube/circuit to break in before I did anything more drastic, as that may change the balance for the better. I'm still super new to this and I know the situation isn't exactly the same but I just thought I'd throw that out there.



Offline Linus1330

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Reply #16 on: January 30, 2017, 01:48:29 AM
Not a problem. The point of the forum is sharing, also known as teaching and learning. I call it "each one teach one." It succeeds when it's a safe place to be ignorant and ask ignorant questions. 

Don't worry, you're not alone.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Another person also supported me in verifying the imbalance. I listened to some mono recordings and it's not possible to disregard it. It sounds like voices and symbals are mixed to the right even though the source is mono (again with the high frequencies).

I also did try to measure the AC voltage on the headphone cable ends, using 150hz. There was no considerable difference. The thing is, I don't hear any difference either when listening to the test tones. It's only apparent when listening to music! It's not the headphone drivers either since the bias swaps when swapping the ends of the cable.

I'm grasping for straws here but I did notice one thing, when bumping my rackety desk, there is a very noticeable bell-echoing sound produced from the Crack. This sound is only audible in the right channel. Could that be some clue?

I mean, the measurements seem to disprove that there is an imbalance. But I can definitely hear one when listening to music. Do I need a scope to test higher frequencies?

Anyway, Doc B. suggested in my thread that I give it some time for the tube/circuit to break in before I did anything more drastic, as that may change the balance for the better. I'm still super new to this and I know the situation isn't exactly the same but I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Is it possible that the speedball needs to burn in? It has been going for some time now though.

Even though the imbalance is annoying, I've still been thouroughly enjoying the sound post-speedball. I just wish it could be balanced as well!  :)



Offline ideal.hat

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Reply #17 on: February 06, 2017, 09:42:43 PM
Are you using the stock Volume pot? In order to keep the price down. Bottlehead has provided the kit with a cheap but very functunal pot.
They leave it to us to upgrade it (power to the hackers).

The reason I am asking is because I did have this problem myself but it was resolved with a new ALPS Blue pot.
Volume in L ch was higher at low levels then in R ch.

If you decite to go for a new potentiometer, I could suggest Audio Note 100K Potentiometer even though I have not tried it my self.
The price here in Europe is 26 punds.

It should be a step up from the ALPS as I can understand here on the forum.  I have got my eyes on it and my hand on the gun/wallet.



But Like Doc B. points out, Think about the Crackatwoa before you start to spend $$$ on the Crack.
For me personally, I could have both the Crackatwoa and modded it a little bit, with the amount of money I have put into the Crack, and it would be a more capable amplifier with greater potential..

Gudmundur Asgeirsson
Bottlehead experience 4 out of 10.
I work as an IT administrator