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Speaker driver mismatch? Soundstage & vocals shift to one side.

O

ossy

pfm Member
I’ve got a pair of ruark sabre 3’s. I’ve been using them for around a year but have noticed that the sound stage and vocals in particular tend to be shifted more to one side.

I swapped the cables, no change. I swapped the speakers and the bias shifted.

On closer inspection one of the speakers has had the drivers removed at some point (this happens to be the one which the bias shifts towards). I am wondering whether this speaker has been repaired at some point and new drivers put in. I guess this accounts for the soundstage/vocal shift but I am no expert?

The speakers sound good but I am now constantly noticing the shift to one side.
 
If the sound is correct, just shifted, surely adjusting balance will get you most or all of the way to correcting things?

Are the drivers correct - both speakers have the same ones?
 
Yep, drivers are the same. My Amp doesn’t have a balance control. I just wondered that when a driver is replaced, is it difficult to match them. One of the speakers is definitely more sensitive then the other.
 
No balance????????? No two gang volume pot with split volume knob? Nothing?

Not at all something that I am well versed in, but modern drivers tend to be very similar and pretty much inter-changeable.
 
Is it possible to remove the crossovers from both speakers and visually compare them? Maybe the one that has been previously taken apart has been modified or not reconnected correctly.

If they are identical then I would start swapping things between the speakers one at a time. Swap the crossovers and see if the soundstage shift moves to the other side, if not, then try a tweeter and if not then try a woofer.

Once you isolate the culprit then you can look at obtaining a replacement. I guess at this stage, you don't know if the less sensitive speaker or the more sensitive one is at fault.
 
Had this after moving house without the boxes for my NBLs, image was stuck to one speaker. The tweeter of the other one wasn’t working, easy to check with external crossovers and a meter confirmed it had gone open circuit.
If you cant disconnect the individual drivers easily you’ll need to get your ear close to each tweeter to tell.
 
Is it the same on all sources? I had the same problem recently, tried everything I could think of, it turned out to be the bias on the arm of my turntable.
 
Rockmeister said:
move your chair?
Click to expand...

Funny you should say this. It spurred me into changing the toe in of the speakers which has resulted in a larger spread of sound.

All drivers are working. The main question I suppose was whether new drivers had to be carefully matched to the older ones, but it sounds like this is not really an issue.

Anyway, thanks, things have improved. It always amazes me how the smallest of changes can have significant differences as to how you perceive the sound. This, of course, also includes mood and alcohol levels.
 
Oh, I was quite serious :) I think the interaction between the shape, construction and furnishing of a room, and the loudspeakers within it, makes the most difference to the sound of any system; and altering the positions of the furniture and the speakers often turns a mediocre system into a really really good one.

Or of course you can equally, mess it up!
 
I believe the speakers have two pairs of binding posts on the rear - if they have blanking plates/wires is there a loose connection?
 
If you swapped the speakers over (just the speakers, no cables etc and the sound shifted with the speaker it would suggest there is an issue. The listening room can play havoc with the soundstage so that the balance shifts according to the frequencies being played, but this wouldn't be the cause if the balance follows the same speaker when channel swapped.
I would have thought best practice would be to change the same driver/s on each speaker for better matching. If you're up for it, you could swap just the new driver over with the other speaker and see if that has an effect.
 
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