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

It sounds like an out of phase problem. Reverse the positive and negative on the speaker and see if that fixes the problem. It’s a shot in the dark but you have nothin’ to lose givin’ that a try!!

Presumably you have listened to the tweeter, putting your hand over the mid-bass unit that follows jsut to check? Likewise with the top mid-bass unit?

This might help you single out which unit has lower amplitude.

Otherwise (assuming it's not just a phase issue as mentioned above), you'll need the help of a technician. It may just be a bad soldering

Use an SPL meter and measure mono signals.  Measure close to the drivers and do it at relatively low volumes, say 70db.

Thanks for all the good suggestions.

Yes, I have covered the speakers to determine if they are working but have not measured with an SPL meter. Will investigate the latter possibility.

I don't think speaker placement is the culprit as the problem moves with the speaker position, i.e. the loud speaker is louder in either position.

I will try the out of phase speaker wire reversal, but f I haven't experienced this with other speakers, then I assume the out of phase miswiring would be internal to the speaker itself. 

Unfortunately I don't have any balance controls on my integrated amp so I can't try this test comparing a mono signal.

I can measure speaker coil resistance and look at the crossover connections. I can also solder but delving into the crossover network and measuring/replacing individual components would be a last resort.

Will report back!

 

I think @yogiboy above, is referring to relative phase, not absolute phase. As in, one speaker is wired with the negative cable going to positive terminal, while the other is correctly. 

This will cause the image to be offset, or diffuse, and not focused. 

The test with an SPL meter is good. There are many decent ones you can download on your phone.