STRANGE problem...any ideas??? (1 Viewer)

[Bob_A]

I am having a VERY strange problem...my left speaker is outputting about 75-90 percent (my guess) of what the right speaker is outputting. I figured this was because I am using a very long cable for the left speaker and there is signal loss and/or a problem with the cable. Just to test, I switched my Left and Right speaker inputs on the receiver (I sent the cable for my left speaker to the right input, and sent the cable for my right speaker to the left input). Now the sound was perfectly balanced!!! Of course the L/R channels were reversed...but no longer was one speaker "dominating"...is this manner of hookup, the vocals are quite a bit clearer/fuller and the overall sound--though excellent before--is truly awesome now!
speakers: Def Tech 2000TL's
receiver: yamaha dspA1
cables: Monster
One note: For the bass, I have them wired "full range" where the short end of a y-connector is sent to the "main in" and "pre out" of the receiver, and the long end is sent to the speaker. I had this wired correctly (Left to Left, Right to Right) and have tried switching them with no difference in results.
It's seems strange to me to keep the wires switched like that...but I think it may be worth it for now considering the output difference.
Any ideas/suggestions? Thanks a lot!

 

[Grant B]

I believe a better solution would be having the same lengths for both and loosely coiling up the extra speaker wire on the shorter one.
That way the amp sees the same load for each channel.
Finding wire with a lower impediance would also be a good idea
------------------
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I am a superhero!
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-Space Ghost..

 

[Bob_A]

I would need a really long cable for my right speaker to match lengths with my left speaker...and I have heard that it is best not to coil excess wire (snaking is supposedly better).
But still why would the speakers sound fine with the left hooked up to the right terminal and right hooked up to left terminal, but not in their normal orientation???

 

[Saurav]

One possibility is that you had the speakers connected out of phase before, and corrected the phase problem when you switched speakers. Having one speaker out of phase often has the effect of one speaker sounding louder than the other. Also make sure that the phase is correct between the bass and full-range connections - that could make a difference too.
I would suggest you try it again, with the correct right-left connections, and double-check the polarity.

 

[Bob_A]

I'll try a different cable for the left speaker and see what happens...otherwise the polarity was correct and I tried switching the interconnects for the bass and this didn't change things...but I'll try to do some more "experimenting" and see what happens.
Thanks for the responses so far!