No preamp 'Balance' control?

Good point sssperf.
I, too, have a bit of hearing loss as well as an asymmetric listening position in my office, so a balance or gain control is a necessity.
B

Never used balance on earlier preamps.... don't miss not having it on my current pre

I can move an inch or two along my listening spot couch but don't. I could though. I also don't miss balance controls and haven't had one in my rig for years, but I do now have a "loudness" control in the form of a Schiit "Loki"…a cool "uncool" thing I highly recommend.

It's funny to see this posting, as just last week I played with the balance control on my preamp and with the acoustics of my room, found that upping the right channel 2 db made the imaging and soundstage noticeably improved.

I bought my preamp, in part, because it offered a large, continuous range of balance adjustment.  My room is asymmetrical, so that is one reason.  But, seriously, are we to just assume that every recording ever made is perfectly balanced left-to-right?  Heck no.  Outside of classical recordings, I have heard crazy channel imbalances, which even differed from track to track and LP side to LP side.  And are we also to assume that every component and pair of speakers is perfectly balanced internally?  That's a big assumption.  I bet there are many channel imbalances in audio gear, especially phono cartridges.  So, why should we not be able to correct these imbalances and restore the true sound stage?

I think one of the reviewers at TAS refers to balance controls as "sound stage controls". 'nuff said!