Is your image centred?

No doubt that the above statement is true. I have many records and their CD counterparts, and very often the soundstage has been 'moved' to appear more balanced or centered. I think it almost always is more contrived, and of course, less natural. Besides the 'you are there' seal of reality that vinyl has, the engineers who do the digital remasters end up throwing in their 2 cents on top of the original artists work. If they were such geniuses they would have albums of their own. I want to hear the original artist's and engineer's work, not some later day yahoo who got hired for the job. The only exception in when a really great engineer does the remastering, which happens every so often.

Great responses,thanks.
I will play with my rigs a bit more and will make up-date later. Anyone, Please feel free to input your experiences, I think this is a good thread!
Thanks again

This definitely occurs - hard to say why. I have some records that pull badly to one side and many that pull just slightly. Yet I can easily check with test LP's and CD's that there is no issue with my system. My best guess would be poor mastering.

Some classical lp's may appear to exhibit this because that's how the sound was when recorded. Quartets often have the 2 violins on the left overpowering the viola and cello on the right, for example. Not much you can do about that - except find a better performance/recording.

If small changes in your antiskate matter a lot, it may mean your tracking force is too light. A gross mismatch between A.S. and T.F. could cause one channel to reproduce with more distortion/less volume than the other channel. Keep in mind that it's sonically best to be as close to the UPPER end of the cartridge manufacturer's recommended TF range as your arm's mass allows.

Couldn't improper azimuth shift an image?

Couldn't improper azimuth shift an image?

It may, but it would have to be grossly off. Usually, azimuth just makes the image sharper. However, that is not really what Luna is asking about.