Is the right speaker usually slightly louder than the left?

fixmarky

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May 26, 2005
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Something has always sounded a little bit off, and today I realized when my speakers are set really low I can only hear output from the right speaker. To test this I fired up winamp, set the volume to 100% LEFT, and turned down the speaker volume until I could no longer hear any music.

When I moved the slider to 100% RIGHT (at the same volume), I got sound from the right speaker. Is this normal? If it's not, is it a soundcard or speaker issue? It's noticable enough that I actually tried to figure out if it was really happening...

I don't have any spare speakers so if anyone could test this I'd really appreciate it.
 

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
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There is always some crosstalk. Depending on how bad that is I suppose that could cause it.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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Never personally owned a set of Promedia 2.1's but are the controls in a seperate pod or on one of the speakers?

I know with my cheap Labtec 2.1 system, the speaker with the controls also recieves the amplified audio from the subwoofer box and passes it on to the left satellite. The right one always seems to be a bit stronger.

On my Logitech Z-5300's the input audio goes straight to the sub, gets amplified there and goes straight out to each speaker individually.
They all have balanced volume with no tweaking.
 

Ichigo

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2005
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Would you notice if you didn't pay attention to it? No. In any case you can adjust it in software in the Control Panel.
 

herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
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is the wire for each of the speakers the same length? or is one wraped up in a tight coil? this will cause some issuewith power output.
 

fixmarky

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May 26, 2005
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Shorty- controls are integrated into the speaker casing.

Ichigo- I didn't have to pay special attention in order to notice it. As I mentioned, something always seemed off. Whenever I watched movies or listened to music at moderate volumes my attention would always shift to the right. Maybe my hearing is just too good. :p But trust me, after awhile it gets disorienting.

Herm- speaker wires are the same length and not bundled in any weird way.

Here's something else, I tried manually tweaking through Windows volume settings (so that both speakers would "mute" at the same volume) but this was only possible by completely muting the right speaker.

thread on creative forums about a similar problem
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
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Try switching the speakers (put left speaker on right channel, vice versa). See what happens then.

 

fixmarky

Member
May 26, 2005
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When the speakers are switched, the problem still exists.

Right now I have Right channel hooked up to Left Speaker, Left Channel hooked up to Right Speaker. Left speaker is louder at moderate volumes, so the problem is not speaker related, but rather from the right channel.
 

fixmarky

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May 26, 2005
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Felix: Do you have any links to any threads about this issue? Im going to try to find another pair of speakers at a friend's house that I can try out.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
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Originally posted by: fixmarky
Felix: Do you have any links to any threads about this issue? Im going to try to find another pair of speakers at a friend's house that I can try out.

I researched this before buying but bought anyway. And now, two years later, Im experiencing the problem. I dont remember the links, but the solution was to upgrade the speaker wires, I havent yet though.
 

fixmarky

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May 26, 2005
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Doh. I just tried another pair of speakers and the volume worked the way it was supposed to. This means my Klipsches went bad after only a month. Thanks for the diagnosis though Felix.

I guess now I'm going to try to make some homebrew cables for them. Hopefully I can find some information on the web on how to convert speaker wire into a stereo plug.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,048
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Originally posted by: fixmarky
Doh. I just tried another pair of speakers and the volume worked the way it was supposed to. This means my Klipsches went bad after only a month. Thanks for the diagnosis though Felix.

I guess now I'm going to try to make some homebrew cables for them. Hopefully I can find some information on the web on how to convert speaker wire into a stereo plug.

Wait, you think the cable going from the computer to the input on the speakers is bad?

 

fixmarky

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May 26, 2005
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That's one possibility, but I'm hoping its not the case since the PC to Speaker Input is hardwired. Hopefully its just the Sub to Speaker cable since I can more easily replace that.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,048
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Originally posted by: fixmarky
That's one possibility, but I'm hoping its not the case since the PC to Speaker Input is hardwired. Hopefully its just the Sub to Speaker cable since I can more easily replace that.

Do you have a soldering iron? It shouldn't be too hard to replace the hardwired one.
 

ParatoOptimal

Golden Member
Jan 27, 2004
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I've noticed the same problem in home stereo systems.

I don't believe the wires from the receiver to the speakers are bad in my case.

One may be a little longer than the other but that doesn't account for the amount of drop off in the left speaker. The right speaker is far more dominant.

I have old Advent speakers on this particular system. I've refoamed the cones.

The voice coils seemed OK when I replaced the faoms.

Switching left to right speakers, switching wires, replacing wires, trying different speakers and checking output at the back of the receiver would be the usual tests. I did some long ago, forget the results and it isn't much of a concern on this small system. I adjust the ballance to suit the room placement anyway.

 

fixmarky

Member
May 26, 2005
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I just replaced the cables and the sound is STILL imbalanced. I really don't want to have to RMA the whole thing....
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
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Originally posted by: fixmarky
I just replaced the cables and the sound is STILL imbalanced. I really don't want to have to RMA the whole thing....

That is a bad sign. Usually I just jiggle mine a little in the back and that does the trick.
 

fixmarky

Member
May 26, 2005
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went through the trouble of trying w/ my chaintech av-710, same problem. Its definitely a speaker problem. Sigh. Guess I'll call Klipsch tomorrow about this. At least I got motivated to finally upgrade the cables to these otherwise sweet sounding speakers.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
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Also, make sure its not your source. For example, many songs are biased toward one channel or the other, and can sound annoying if you pay alot of attention to it.

If you are using Foobar, try to the stereo to mono DSP (both channels end up playing the same thing) and see if its actually an electrical issue, or if its your songs that are mostly right-biased.
 

fixmarky

Member
May 26, 2005
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Astrallite, I did a white noise test....the left speaker would mute before the right when I adjusted the volume. I got in touch with Klipsch...its a problem with the "potentiometer in the volume control pod" and isn't uncommon, other people have had it too. I'm actually surprised I don't hear many complaints about it since its a subtle problem that drives you crazy once you notice it. Maybe I just got a bad draw.

I always felt the right speaker was louder but didn't bother obsessing over it (doing a white noise test made me feel like I was in a lab) until one night while playing my speakers at low volume I realized the left speaker muted while the right was still playing. Again, though subtle at higher volumes, it becomes very distracting once you know the imbalance is there. And not having a second channel at low volume is just unacceptable.

PS: To make matters worse, the problem also exists when headphones are plugged in.