Right Channel louder than the left

Get some Deoxit. You can find it online or at the Radio Shack.

Newbee you are right the AUX in (to which my phone stage is connected) does have its own tubes. The weird thing is that the problem has now gone away when I flipped the connections back and forth on the cartridge.

I just switched the wires on the cartridge and the levels are OK. I switched them back and it looks like problem has gone away or is barely perceptible. Maybe a faulty connection that got resolved?
thanks for the help

Dravid1, Doesn't the pre-amp have tubes in the phono section? If so, those would be the tubes that were referred to. Your other sources would not 'see' the phono stage tubes in the pre-amp so it is possible that those could be the problem even though your line stage tubes are fine. Just change the tubes from side to side, or better yet if you have some new tubes just try replacing them. If you don't have any extras, you should! :-)

I actually just switched the input source to CD and the levels even out. I dont think its the preamp.

Before you truck tht pre-amp down to a techie simply switch the tubes in the phono stage from left to right. See if anything changes. If not, tubes are not your problem.

I had the same problem and spent time testing my 6SN7 tubes. They turned out fine, so I then tested azimuth using 1khz tones. There was definitely a problem with one channel "leaking" more than the other.

A very slight azimuth adjustment was all that was required. As a result, I now have significantly better imaging and soundstage.

I later learned that my Soundsmith re-tipped stylus is very, very sensitive to azimuth. From what I have read, it is a Fritz Geiger design. This has prompted me to buy a USB microscope, one recommended by by Mike at Continuum.

I dont have a tube tester but may be able to take the pre amp into a shop and see if I can use one there. Great idea

Do you have access to a tube tester? Cross check the output of your tubes from their corresponding locations in the right and left channels. Something in the left channel may show a significantly weaker or lower output than something in the right channel.

WIll try this. Thanks

I'm not surprised. Did you check the leads on the phono cartridge? Try reversing these leads and see if the channel reverses accordingly. You could have a problem in the cartridge itself.

Thanks. I did reverse the connections and the problem persists. I did fiddle with the anit skate but it does not seem to have much of an effect

The first thing I would do is reverse the leads from the TT/Phono to the pre-amp and see if this change is reflected on the VU meters. If it is the easiest thing to check first would be the anti skate after you check all of your IC's and wire routing to be sure connections are all solid.