Speaker balance control

I've already addressed some of those issues to no avail. My listening position was nearer the right speaker to begin with and 6 months ago, I moved to a position in the center about 15' from them. The listening room is actually my living room with several acoustically unfortunate compromises but the wall on the right (loud) side is 18' of curtain with a solid wall on the left. One would think that the right side sound, then, would be the most damped with this layout.

The front wall is about 15' wide with the speakers equidistant from both the side and the front walls. The depth of the speaker cabinets dictate their placement with the panels positioned a little over three feet away from the front wall with a bit over 3' from the side walls with about a 15-20 degree toe in.

Also, I believe that my standing with my back to the speakers with the louder side now from the left sidewall and with other observers hearing a centered sound source, it has to be an issue of my hearing deficit.

So..Bojack and Buconero, what you suggest makes sense; a different preamp incorporating a balance control such as the Rogue Audio Sphinx that I traded for my current setup, is the best bet. However, even though there are probably preamps that could match the character of the Nova, I'm afraid to switch now that I have the best sound that I've ever achieved using this combo of pre and power amps with these speakers.

Given this, attenuation of the line level signal seems like the next best approach, so my next challenge is to find a high quality device to try it. I don't think I'll find my answer at Radio Shack so, if anyone has any specific suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them.

Buconero, I appreciate what your saying and that should be the answer but I, along with 2 different audiologists, tried for over 2 months to get it right ending up with my buying the latest, greatest high tech aids. My programs are set up to address the more pronounced and directional high frequency loss in my left ear, so my music program is designed to do the same. We were able to achieve acceptable balance but other issues ended up being the problem for me. I never really accepted that the end result sounded as realistic or as accurate as when unaided, but the biggest problem is that I can't wear them for more than an hour before the right ear canal begins itching and if I continue to wear them, it turns into an earache that lasts for a day or two. The manufacturer was even brought into it and they sent several different tips to try with no success.

Broadstone,

It's not necessarily the quality of the in-line attenuator, it's the fact that it is a set db level w/no control. The chance that your hearing loss matches precisely with the standard db levels (1, 2, 3, 6, etc.) would be a near miracle. I can tell a .25db change on a center vocal, so even 1 db is way off when it comes to achieving a dead-center image. If you go the in-line device route, I think you'll quickly see what I mean.

I had a Peachtree Nova as a preamp for a few years and really enjoyed it. I also had at that time a dspeaker antimode 2.0 dac/preamp. When using these two together I found absolutely zero loss of resolution.

Aside from digital room correction It has basic tone controls, 16 band parametric eq, basic tone controls and balance adjustment.

The nice thing about the dspeaker is the digital output allowing you to use the dac in your Nova. They pop up used from time to time and might be worth investigating.

Best of luck.

Try an in line attenuator. Parts express sells Harrison Labs that come in 3,6 and 12 db level of attenuation. You can give them a try and if they don't do the job you can always return them for a full refund. They come in pairs so you can double them up since you only need one channel.

It sounds like a hearing issue - this happens to me/my system too. Better hearing aids might be the answer. They vary tremendously, and only the top-of-the-line models do anything much above 4Khz. They really aren't designed for music listening at all. Mine have 4 switchable, programmable eq curves, 2 of which are useful for music. Unfortunately, they cost c. $3K each.