Stereo Image Center Shifted with Fancy (Used) Receiver vs. Vintage

[Two Steps]

Hey all, bear with me as I try to clearly communicate what is going on in my noob head.

So...I have a Sansui 661, Marantz 2230, and McIntosh MC250 hooked up to some Klipsch Quartets. It sounded good but I wanted to see what some modern electronics would do to the room. Not really looking to replace anything, just working my way through sounds and how different components can manipulate sound.

With that said, I picked up a Mint Outlaw Audio RR2150 off my local Craigslist. If you're not familiar with the Outlaw, Stereophile gave it very high marks and is toted as kind of an entry level into the high-end world. For me, it sounds great; 100 wpc at my disposal with the ability to take the tone control completely out of the circuit. I really like it!

My problem however, is I've noticed the Stereo Centered Imaging has shifted 8 inches to the right. The speakers themselves are positioned 101 inches apart, so 8 inches was definitely noticeable.

Could the new power, clarity, precision, and fresh capacitors of the Outlaw now illuminate acoustic problems I have in my listening space? Where as the not as precise vintage stuff didn't really bring it to light? Or is there a problem with the right channel of the RR2150 and it is not as loud as the left?

My cables are good and so are the speakers. I swapped the outputs and it sounded like the balance then shifted to the other side; so maybe I have a problem with the receiver. Honestly, this gets fixed when I lean the balance knob a bit to the right, but it still kind of annoys me that I have a potential issue.

Is there a way to test the output from the receiver in each channel since I don't have meters?

 

[SaturationPt]

Switch the cables to reverse the speakers, see if it stays to the right or moves to the left.

 

[Hak Foo]

You might try just probing the balance potentiometer. Maybe the "center" notch is legitimately a couple percent off

 

[avionic]

8"...... Earwax perhaps...

 

[Superampman]

Difference in offset between channels? Is one side of the amp warmer than the other? If so, and bias is higher in one channel, it definitely could shift the image that way.

 

[wmgwizard]

Are you sure the phase is correct ?

A speaker out of phase will shift the image and reduce the bass output.

Only takes a second to check

 

[motorstereo]

If the Outlaw has a mute button try using that to see if the volume pot is mistracking at a low volume where they normally don't track as well. If no mute button try reducing the source's gain so you could use more of the Outlaw's volume pot to see if that's the problem.
An 8'' shift in soundstage........I can only wish I could pay that close attention to mine

 

[Damage]

Make sure the speakers are connected positive to positive, negative to negative.

Turn off the speaker EQ function.

 

[Two Steps]

Ok. Sorry to disappear for a bit. Was just working through variables. For the record, everything was hooked up correctly and all phases were correct.

...the volume pot is mistracking at a low volume where they normally don't track as well. If no mute button try reducing the source's gain so you could use more of the Outlaw's volume pot to see if that's the problem.

This is pretty much it. I also read another thread on AK talking about stereo imaging and how even high dollar amps and receivers can suffer at extremely low volumes. The same thread also mentioned super high sensitivity speakers can augment this kind of problem.

So that's essentially it...I have a 100 watt amp (loud) feeding 98db sensitive speakers (klipsch horn loaded) and I can't get the dial past 1 out of 10 without it being very very loud. And at that low of a number, it's hard for the volume pot to send out the signal equally.

Just tonight I hooked the Outlaw up to some refreshed EPI 100's and the sound is stunning and BALANCED! Due to the fact I have the volume knob up to 4 out of 10; and it's putting out a healthy signal. Side note, even though the EPI's are conservatively rated at 50 watts, most people here say hit em' with 75 watts and they come alive. I'm happy to say this is true

 

[Zeke]

I've had to do similar source reduction in order to get more "volume knob" using a G9000 and Cornwalls.