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Do you ever use the balance on your pre amp?

I haven't had a balance control in ages. Since I moved (1.5years ago) my new crib has posed some major changes. Anyway, I found that the vocals on just about every recording were slightly off center, but enough to bug me. I new it was because of the set-up of my speakers in relation to the side walls. One speaker being near a side wall and one having no side wall. Anyway, my new pre amp has a balance control that I never thought to even look for. I know it's crazy. Anyway, today I'm listening to my tunes and after discovering the balance I centered my vocals. Not only is the centered vocal oh so palpable and visceral, but the entire soundscape. Whattayaknow...Any of you guys relate to my experience. Pre alzheimmers experience, as well...lol...
128x128warrenh
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
I guess I must be lucky, as I don't have a balance control, nor do I feel the need to use one. On almost all of my recordings, the imaging is solidly centered.

(Once in a great while I do get the odd record where the image seems really off, but I either just live with it, or move on to the next record. Oh well, no big deal to me.)
plato
1,543 posts
 
Sure, why not?

On the other hand, you could rearrange your room and put the speakers equidistant across a common corner -- or just simply position the quieter speaker an inch or so closer to the listening position. Playing with toe-in, and putting acoustic damping material on the closer side wall could help quite a bit too.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Absolutely. I find that maybe 10-20% of the recordings I listen to have images slightly off center. A touch of the balance knob can center the image easily. I consider a balance control mandatory, just like a polarity invert switch, and to a lesser extent, a remote control.
warrenh's avatar
warrenh OP
2,299 posts
 
Plato, you are joking right? Thanks guys, and the balance is on my remote as well. Since my pre has a standby feature (I don't know if that is the reason for this) it keeps everything in memory. Bottom line? Don't have to redo the balance everytime I listen. Huge difference in my music now. That vocal, though only a tad off center, was bugging the shit out of me and hard to rationalize/spin. Dead center is where a vocal usually is , and dead center is where I like it. The rest of the music falls into a balance.
honest1
586 posts
 
Alhtough my room is asymmetrical, I don't need the balance control for normal listening. I do find it tremendously helpful for trouble-shootong when something is not quite right in the system, or for when someone is in the adjacent room near the right speaker, to turn that speaker down so as to not be too loud for that person.
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