Proac Response 3.8 stereo imaging is not centered


I picked up a pristine pair of Proac Response 3.8 speakers recently. They sound lovely, however the sound on one side seemed slightly weaker than the other side with the stereo image or soundstage offset to the louder side. This has never been an issue with my other speakers. Speaker cables are the same length. Switching the speaker wires at the amp output doesn't change the asymmetry. Switching the speakers from left to right and vice versa does change the asymmetry. So my conclusion is that the one speaker is slightly louder than the other? The individual speaker drivers are performing fine and the musical presentation is otherwise fine. Could the crossover components be the problem? Any other ideas to troubleshoot this?

kb3

I contacted the Sound Organization (Proac dealer) who will find out if the original drivers are still available. I'd like to stay original but $800 is a lot of money for one driver! I read the same thing about the Proac drivers being "modified" Scan Speaks but I have my doubts. Guess I'll pull the driver out tomorrow and unsolder it to perform the 9V test and go from there. If the caps on the crossover are electrolytics then they should be replaced anyways, so maybe a crossover overhaul is in my future. Fortunately the PC board is large and simple and the components are discrete and easily removable; the most uncrowded crossover I have ever seen. The components are pretty good quality for a 25 yr old design, with large gauge iron core inductors. Can't tell what caps were used, they appear to be Proac branded. I have requested a schematic form Proac to assist in identifying nominal values.

If you swap speakers and the problem moves, it’s likely the speaker. Crossover components don’t fail very often while a mechanical thing like a driver is far more likely to have an issue. You could go one more step and swap the effected driver only- take one of the working speaker and put in the non working one and see if its better. If it were me I’d find someone to recone both drivers (in both L/R ) and see what happens. (The reason for both is the visuals, the reconed driver may look slightly different (shinier, less dust) and this may drive some people nuts and convince them they sound different. If you recone both at the same time it's like two new drivers.

As long as you’re looking you might try to confirm that the driver in question is an authentic ProAc driver and not a generic replacement.  Does it have the same identification markings as the other drivers?

You could check resistors if one is failing or someone replaced it with wrong value the output could be lacking or too much could cause what you described. That’s the cheapest place to start then film caps. I’m sure your interconnects are all good and connections are good. I would look for bad solder joints in the crossover and binding post. 

Yes, if it is easy to do, the driver swap will confirm that is, or is not the issue.  I hope it is not because drivers can be expensive.  The ideal would be a driver from the manufacturer.  The original driver may be a custom job.  It is quite easy for even the smallest manufacturer with not much of its own R&D capability to specify and get drivers customized.  A local dealer in my area who makes some of his own speakers to sell in the shop, had woofers customized for his requirements.  He specified some of the basic design elements and performance parameters, and the manufacturer built prototypes.  As a retail shop, which builds a somewhat limited number of custom speakers, the minimum order of 40 appeared to be a challenge, but, about two years later, he is ready for another order of 40.  That was it.  Easy.  If ProAc says their driver has been customized, it probably is a genuine claim.