30-May-2015, 19:41
(This post was last modified: 30-May-2015, 21:20 by MusicFirst.
Edit Reason: typos
)
I know there are a few posts and one thread that touch on this subject, but I was wondering if any of you have found that the Companion/Right channel amplification is weaker than the master/left side?
This was true from the day I brought the 400s home and using the stock crystal cable, I found this discontinuity from the first day. Assuming that it was just a matter of amp/cable break-in I waited patiently. Things improved slightly or I got accustomed to the sound, but it still had this discontinuity between the left and right side. It also manifested itself in imaging which occasionally wandered toward the left speaker, once again indicative of a weak and, perhaps even worse, a variable output on the right hand side.
This can sometimes be hard to hear with typical stereo mixes, but if one uses mixes that are hard panned left and right like early stereo it is easy to hear.
My acid test piece is Dave Holland's Extended Play. Cut three has Billy Kilson playing drums on the right channel. Listen to his solo with the monoblocks and then configuring the master as a stereo 200.
I had the occasion to hear my cut on a pair of 800s linked with the crystal cable and the effect was easy to hear.
Don't get me wrong, the monoblock configuration is by far the better way to go, but in terms of detail, dynamics and presence, the RHS suffers by comparison
The effect remains with my new Audioprana SP/DIF-AES/EBU hybrid cable, although to a lesser extent. This is an amazing cable that thrashes the stock Crystal in every other respect, but the weak right channel still remains.
This was true from the day I brought the 400s home and using the stock crystal cable, I found this discontinuity from the first day. Assuming that it was just a matter of amp/cable break-in I waited patiently. Things improved slightly or I got accustomed to the sound, but it still had this discontinuity between the left and right side. It also manifested itself in imaging which occasionally wandered toward the left speaker, once again indicative of a weak and, perhaps even worse, a variable output on the right hand side.
This can sometimes be hard to hear with typical stereo mixes, but if one uses mixes that are hard panned left and right like early stereo it is easy to hear.
My acid test piece is Dave Holland's Extended Play. Cut three has Billy Kilson playing drums on the right channel. Listen to his solo with the monoblocks and then configuring the master as a stereo 200.
I had the occasion to hear my cut on a pair of 800s linked with the crystal cable and the effect was easy to hear.
Don't get me wrong, the monoblock configuration is by far the better way to go, but in terms of detail, dynamics and presence, the RHS suffers by comparison
The effect remains with my new Audioprana SP/DIF-AES/EBU hybrid cable, although to a lesser extent. This is an amazing cable that thrashes the stock Crystal in every other respect, but the weak right channel still remains.
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