Rega Elex-R channel imbalance

[Rega_Elex-R_owner]

I am now having what seems to be the exact same problem with my two year old Rega Elex-R. Did Rega's service people find and solve your problem MasterTape ?

I hesitate sending it to service since I too "really dread the "nothing seems to be wrong with it" call" ....

As mentioned I did, and the imbalance is reversed, excluding room, speaker or hearing issues.

I'm not sure we'll get to the bottom of this to be honest. I'm left scratching my head and I have no reason to not believe the tech when he says he plugged it in and gave it a listen and found as little wrong with it this way as he did when measuring test tones to be within a tenth of a milivolt at the terminals.

But in my setup it exhibits this behavior, and the three other amps I've had in this exact setup all were fine. If it doesn't at his place I can only assume there is some very mysterious interplay issue with my source and the Elex, weird as that would be given that anything else I've plugged in has worked before and since.

It's not extreme, think of it as a 10-15% shift to the right for the centre image. But enough for me to not be able to ignore it and enjoy the music since the sensation is one of my left ear not working properly.

I have also had two different dacs in the short time I've had the Elex, same issue with both. So that leaves the little Digione streamer but I don't see how it can be at fault when there are no issues with other downstream combinations. Same thing with the cables, I've tried numerous to no avail despite not seeing how they can be at fault when working just fine with other amps.

I frankly don't have any ideas. All I can do is assure you guys I'm not hearing things since the L/R speaker switch and an amp switch demonstrates the issue to be with the Elex's interaction with my setup.

 

[MasterTape]

I still have no idea what was going on and question my sanity

I used it for a few months, not getting rid of that strange sensation. Sent it to service, the engineer was super helpful and understanding but found nothing wrong. He even listened to it in his home overnight and assured me he found nothing odd. Given that the engineer cleared it I suspected maybe something was amiss with my setup so when I sold it on I instructed the buyer to give it a good and proper audition over a week and send it right back to me if he wasn't happy, but he was stoked with it and found no issue.

I didn't own a car at the time and didn't want to bother friends, otherwise I'd have taken it to my dealer and auditioned it in different setups to see if maybe something was amiss in my apartment or system. I then moved shortly after and sold everything, that was a boring but effective fix.

 

[Rega_Elex-R_owner]

Tks for quick response. Can you remember if switching the amplifier off for a few minutes and then on again made the problem go away ... until something (or time) again dampened the volume on lefthand speaker ?

 

[PBB]

Audiophilia nervosa is a distinct possibility as the new owner has no issue.

There is no treatment for the condition I fear.

 

[Craig B]

HF hearing loss tends to come on in one ear well before the other. The brain can only compensate for so much wrt being the virtual balance control/equalizer. Eventually, one experiences increasing difficulty with locating the source of sounds.

Not necessarily the case here, but something to consider if one notices such imbalance across devices; especially so with headphones.

 

[MasterTape]

Tks for quick response. Can you remember if switching the amplifier off for a few minutes and then on again made the problem go away ... until something (or time) again dampened the volume on lefthand speaker ?

Always the same, didn't matter.

@Craig B @PBB

Hearing tapers out at the 17k mark on both sides and it's pretty strange when you can pick any other amp from the shelf, plug it in, and have the problem disappear. My body is a bit asymmetric in every other limb from top to toe so I wouldn't object to having different ears too, but the tests I've tried one cup at a time suggest otherwise, and no other equipment before or since gave me the same issue.

The potential of a hearing imbalance was also one of the things I wanted to look at when I tried a RME ADI-2 DAC recently, since it has a balance control, but I repeatedly wanted it to be bang on centered when setting it with my eyes closed with headphones.

So I simply don't know what was going on as it doesn't add up either way.

 

[Anathema]

I read this thread a while ago and wanted to give my experience:
I bought an elex-r a couple of months ago which had channel imbalance of ~2 db at low volume, right channel being weaker. (Measured with pink noise at both speakers, switching channels reversed the issue so no room effect). I had it replaced and found the same issue again! I put more investigation into it and found imbalance starts to occur with volume at ~08:00-08:30. Above that it evens out, below that it gets worse the lower you set it.

I decided to now keep the unit since I like the sound. I solved the issue by adding a Rothwell -10db attenuator for CD player and dim other sources volume to stay at higher potmeter settings.

Problem solved for me, but surprised that lower setting of potmeter is off on two amplifiers.

 

[Allaboutmusic]

I have recently bought a elex r and it's only got around 40 hours on the clock and sounds great.

Was surprised to see so many people with imbalance issues on the elex r as I understand they are usually very reliable.

How obvious is the channel imbalance? Is it something you would need to listen carefully for or would you know when you heard it? Just concerned as a new elex r owner! Thank you

 

[cjyosemite]

I put more investigation into it and found imbalance starts to occur with volume at ~08:00-08:30. Above that it evens out, below that it gets worse the lower you set it.

That excludes me from the problem as I usually listen at 9.30 to 10.30 & when played at low volume I am at 9.00 - but with my music (classical) I would have difficulty in noticing an imbalance of 2db.

 

[Anathema]

I have recently bought a elex r and it's only got around 40 hours on the clock and sounds great.

Was surprised to see so many people with imbalance issues on the elex r as I understand they are usually very reliable.

How obvious is the channel imbalance? Is it something you would need to listen carefully for or would you know when you heard it? Just concerned as a new elex r owner! Thank you

I first noticed for a while and then started to measure, which confirmed this, so it was noticable to me. The Elex-r has very high input sensitivity (and I have quite sensitive speakers). With my apollo-r I therefore needed quite low potmeter setting for normal volume. Rega was also contacted by the shop and they indicated that some low level balance inaccuracy is normal with potmeters (but shouldn't be audible according to them..). Anyway, if it sounds fine I wouldn't worry.

 

[MasterTape]

I listened in a little near field triangle in that setup and don't like listening too loudly, so it's entirely possible this was my issue as well. I don't recall cranking it to try and if my tech just put the volume on 11 o'clock before measuring he might have missed it.

Impossible to say in retrospect, but it's a possibility.

 

[MusicMiles]

The Elex-r has very high input sensitivity (and I have quite sensitive speakers). With my apollo-r I therefore needed quite low potmeter setting for normal volume. Rega was also contacted by the shop and they indicated that some low level balance inaccuracy is normal with potmeters (but shouldn't be audible according to them..).

This to quote Rega and if I understand them correctly the potentiometer adjusts the gain of the circuit to raise and lower the volume without the signal actually passing through it.

"The volume control and pre-amplifier used in the Elex-R is designed to overcome the problems associated with the standard arrangement. This design uses a custom chip along with peripheral support IC’s like a microcontroller and a custom made rotary volume control.

The Elex-R uses a combined feedback and passive volume control, where the feedback and input levels are varied to set the required volume level. The level and tracking between the two channels is set by the close tolerance parts in the pre-amplifier circuit and less by the actual potentiometer itself, thus keeping the mismatch of channels due to volume control tracking irregularities to a minimum. As well as keeping tracking irregularities to a minimum, this method also reduces noise and input overload as the control will only ‘use’ the required gain to amplify the signal. This form of volume control is normally only found in professional broadcast environments where accurate low noise control of levels is required."

 

[Anathema]

This to quote Rega and if I understand them correctly the potentiometer adjusts the gain of the circuit to raise and lower the volume without the signal actually passing through it.

"

I've read that too, that's why was I was so surprised to observe whay I did. I had multiple amps, and never experienced a balance issue. And the one that certainly should not have this, shows this behaviour..

No idea, maybe something's up with that design or I just had bad luck. (Still pleased with it using the attenuator though. Using more of the potmeter range is an improvement anyway I think)

 

[FateX]

Hi. I have a similar problem with channel balance. Moreover, it was manifested on several Elex-R amplifiers. I realized that the culprit was probably the 502dac raspberry 3b. The right channel is weaker, the sound in it is muddy and muffled. In general, the sound became flat and weak. I don't even know how to fix it now.

 

[roach]

Some stereo mixes can drive me mad. I sometimes wonder what the engineers were up to panning stuff to far right or left.

 

[gerlando]

Some stereo mixes can drive me mad. I sometimes wonder what the engineers were up to panning stuff to far right or left.

I love the extreme panning.
It was so popular at the end of the 60's, especially in psychedelic music (Doors, Iron Butterfly, Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.).
It would drives you crazy if you listen to it on headphones.

 

[fcdvpds]

I listened in a little near field triangle in that setup and don't like listening too loudly, so it's entirely possible this was my issue as well. I don't recall cranking it to try and if my tech just put the volume on 11 o'clock before measuring he might have missed it.

Impossible to say in retrospect, but it's a possibility.

Hi! I purchased a Rega Elex-R...love the sound but the channel imbalance is obvious...similar setup than you, near field listening normally at low volume. Just measured the system with a 400hz sound and observed more than 2db difference between channels with the right being the weaker. Reversed speaker cables at the amp and confirmed the issue. Unfortunate because otherwise absolutely love this unit. Cheers

 

[Jodet]

He appears to be a class act and has a great reputation so I'm hoping this will be the case. He had never fixed this particular issue with a Rega fwiw.

It's a shame the previous owner didn't have it fixed during the warranty period. I have a hard time seeing he sold it for any other reason than this. But I have been spared from these issues when buying used for a very long time so not too upset about it.

Maybe he tried. Last time I sent something to Rega service they said, 'oh, they all do that'.

I've bought my last piece of gear from Rega.

 

[hifi_dave]

Hi! I purchased a Rega Elex-R...love the sound but the channel imbalance is obvious...similar setup than you, near field listening normally at low volume. Just measured the system with a 400hz sound and observed more than 2db difference between channels with the right being the weaker. Reversed speaker cables at the amp and confirmed the issue. Unfortunate because otherwise absolutely love this unit. Cheers

Return it to Rega service via your nearest Rega stockist and it will be fixed asap.

 

[Chris]

Removed because has nothing to do with a certain model of amp. Sorry