My tonearm must be wired out of phase


I have always had a slight channel imbalance with 2 cartridges and 2 phono stages.  The right channel always played slightly louder than the left and the sound stage leaned that way also, more center and right with the left stage almost nonexistent.  The meters on my monoblock amps also indicated less output on the left channel.

After switching the cartridge leads everything snapped into focus.  Full soundstage, 3 dimensional, amp meters equal and test record pink noise indicates equal balance as well.  My tonearm is a Basis Vector 4 with a captive cable.  Somewhere in the chain the wires must be crossed...that’s all I can come up with.  Anyone had this experience?  
pops
Would be unusual. Check with a meter. You can replace the little female plugs on the cartridge end and put the right colors in place. If it really is the case that one side was wired out of phase it is just because the tech soldered on one of the channel's colors backwards as that process would come last. But you should trace everything out with a meter checking continuity and write down which color belongs where.
 There are two very different ways in which a stereo system can be wired out of phase. In the first case, one channel is 180° out of phase with the other. This produces some dramatic negative effects, imaging is damaged severely, and it’s just quite noticeable. In the second case, both channels are wired in the same phase with respect to each other, but the phase of the system is 180° different from the phase with which the material was recorded. Frankly, I have never been able to hear that second difference in my system, perhaps because I use dipolar  electrostatic speakers. However, there are golden ears who claim that system phase makes a great deal of difference to them. Nevertheless, this second sort of phase issue is unlikely to have anything to do with your observation because it’s quite subtle, at most..

So please tell us exactly what you mean when you say you “switched cartridge leads”. Thanks.
Thanks for responding, I switched the white and blue leads with the red and green.  Out of phase might not be the correct terminology.

Perhaps as mijostyn suggested the clips are on the wrong wire inverting phase.  Similarly, my CJ preamp inverts phase.  Like you Lewn, I can't tell the difference with phase inversion but for good measure I reverse my speaker connections at the speaker.  I also have a phase inversion switch on my phono preamp but can't really discern a difference either way.

I haven't spent a lot of time on this new discovery yet.  While I can conclude at early stages is what I described above.  Before this new revelation the soundstage was nice and "chunky" from the center, right center and far right with a noticeable hole left center and far left.  

I know what wiring your system or speakers out of phase sounds like and my description above is not that.  That result is as you mention Lewn, extreme sounding.  With the cartridge leads reversed it sounds way better in terms of filling the entire stage between the speakers.  Not change in tonality just equal balance between the channels and speakers........man.....analog.  Of course my digital plays fine.