Balance Knobs- who actually use it?

[2channel*]

I have a piano in my living room that is in the same position as yours. Royal PITA and unfortunately it isn't going anywhere even though it doesn't get played! The opposite/right side is a couch/wall versus being open. I would check where the first reflection points are on the left and I bet you are getting some reflections off the piano that are messing with the perceived center image. I helped the problem in my room by stealing pillows from the couch and putting them on the piano. Perfect? No, but a big improvement. For the right side maybe a big soft chair at mirrored location of the piano (now with pillows on it). Lastly, I have to move a coffee table that is usually between my listening chair and the speakers to eliminate reflections of it that smear the sound. Doing these things, along with carefully setting speaker/listening chair positions, have allowed me to rarely touch the balance knob.

You know, I had already tried the pillow on the piano trick without much effect. I placed it on the keyboard cover at the 1st reflection area as shown by a mirror.
After your post I revisited it. This time I draped a tablecloth from the keyboard to the floor for the entire width ob the piano. It did help a noticeable amount. I still need the balance knob - the audiologist proved that - but now only 1 click.

 

[AvFan]

You know, I had already tried the pillow on the piano trick without much effect. I placed it on the keyboard cover at the 1st reflection area as shown by a mirror.
After your post I revisited it. This time I draped a tablecloth from the keyboard to the floor for the entire width ob the piano. It did help a noticeable amount. I still need the balance knob - the audiologist proved that - but now only 1 click.

Excellent! I have read that what we hear from our systems is made up of 50% gear and 50% the room. I have no idea how to verify those percentages but just a little, and inexpensive, attention to reflections can yield very positive results. A tablecloth on the piano? I will have to try that!

If you haven't done it already I saw nice improvements in soundstage and channel balance when I also carefully positioned my speakers and listening chair so the speakers and listening position formed an equilateral triangle. Some blue masking tape and a tape measure can also be powerful tools to better sound.

 

[Drugolf]

I have to adjust a little off center balance to make it center on a Dynaco Pat5 preamp I have (per an oscilloscope). Don't know what that is a sign of.

 

[2channel*]

My wife already thinks I'm a nut job with all the markings on the floor, furniture rearranging, and ceiling tile removal. Tape measure, level, and even a laser are always handy. But I gotta say it's worth it.

 

[AvFan]

My wife already thinks I'm a nut job with all the markings on the floor, furniture rearranging, and ceiling tile removal. Tape measure, level, and even a laser are always handy. But I gotta say it's worth it.

I wrapped my piano in my listening space with a small throw quilt by tucking it under the top lid and draping it to the floor. The sound is better than just using pillows and more closely matches the sofa that is opposite the piano. I noticed better focus of the various instruments across the soundstage. Thanks for the tip to use something bigger than pillows. I need to do some more listening but I wonder if there is enough energy from my speakers to excite the sound board in the piano. Maybe the throw quilt is helping that too. Oh, how I wish I had a separate listening room to call my own!

 

[2channel*]

Headphones are also an issue for me. I use a pair of NAD Viso HP50s to test if I'm having a good hearing day (vocals are dead center) or a bad one (vocals are off to right); but my favorites are 30 year old Stax and they have their own issues with balance. The electret SR-40s are pretty much always off to the right, but the electrostatic SR-X 3s have good days and bad days just like my ears. The most annoying aspect of my hearing situation is that I have a drop-out from 4,000 Hz to 6,000 Hz, one side worse than the other. That sometimes creates the illusion that the vocalist is moving sideways when their voice sweeps from one side of that range to the other. Weird. I notice that at concerts, too. The balance knob is no cure for that. I bought a used graphic equalizer for a few $$ to play around with. It actually helps the imaging, but I don't like what it does to the rest of the SQ, so I only use it occasionally on the CP player; never on the Oppo BDP-95 or turntable. Maybe some day I'll get a parametric.