Channel Imbalance

[Lee T]

My Rotel RA-04 amp is quieter on the left channel then the right until around the 8 o'clock mark, it's not terrible but having owned one of these in the past i had no such issue, it worked perfectly on both channels from zero on the dial.

We have new neighbours with a baby on the way so by the time both kick in it may be heard next door when they are home, currently only playing music when they are out.

Looks like my hifi days could be over

I have been informed that changing the internal fuses could solve the problem, is this the case or just forum speak.

 

[muzzer]

Buy a pair of good headphones

 

[simon g]

Try a squirt of switch cleaner on the pot.

Prior to that, witht the amp off, quickly turn the pot to maxium and back down to minimum. Repeat around 10 times. Might be enough to do the trick.

 

[toprepairman]

Sounds like thr volume control track is worn out, a replacement could be the only cure,
Changing the fuses won't make the slightest difference.

 

[ToTo Man]

The volume pots on ALL of my vintage amps are like this. Channel imbalances and a generally veiled sound is very noticeable on very low volume settings (i.e. 8 o'clock). IME the pots become transparent once they reach 10-11 o'clock. I assumed it is par for the course with vintage year. Not sure if they were like this when they were new. If they were then it probably wasn't noticeable before 2V line-level sources became the norm (most vintage amps have 150mV sensitivity input).

 

[YNWOAN]

Changing fuses won't make any difference. As above, it's most likely the volume control.

 

[Thetiminator]

Try a squirt of switch cleaner on the pot.

Prior to that, witht the amp off, quickly turn the pot to maxium and back down to minimum. Repeat around 10 times. Might be enough to do the trick.

This

 

[hermit]

One inexpensive workaround would be to put inline attenuators between your source(s) and the amp. 10db of attenuation would move your volume control well past the worn part of the track.

 

[vinyl_junkie]

In most cases it's either the pot (switch cleaner won't do anything unless it's crackly) or the resistor round the balance pot as balance pots are basically voltage dividers but in your case it's the pot as you say the balance varies over the travel of the pot.

I don't know why cheap amps like this don't just use VCA's if they're going to use junk pots.
You could use cheap mono pots and have better stereo tracking specs than most regular pots