Well, this is very strange. For whatever reason, my left speaker plays louder than the right (when trims are left at 0dB). I have calibrated my system using the Radio Shack meter and AVIA, and the meter tells me that the front stage is balanced once I set the trim for the left speaker to -4 dB.

But when I sit there and check the pink noise by ear, the output from the right speaker sounds noticeably louder than the left. I can't figure it out. Is it just the pink noise and the environment playing tricks on how loud I am perceiving the noise to be?

Well, this is very strange. For whatever reason, my left speaker plays louder than the right (when trims are left at 0dB). I have calibrated my system using the Radio Shack meter and AVIA, and the meter tells me that the front stage is balanced once I set the trim for the left speaker to -4 dB.

But when I sit there and check the pink noise by ear, the output from the right speaker sounds noticeably louder than the left. I can't figure it out. Is it just the pink noise and the environment playing tricks on how loud I am perceiving the noise to be?

The balance control is the one you would use to correct that.

Is any noise coming out of the other speakers that you do not have turned down when the channel is playing the noise?

No. I decided to run through my receiver's test tones just for kicks, and the output of the right speaker is obviously higher than that of the left speaker.

I understand that the tones will sound different since I used AVIA's tones for my calibration, but I am pretty sure I experienced the same thing with those tones as well.

How are you setting up the meter? Are you using a tripod or holding it?

Do the test tones sound different in timbre? Generally, a FR difference between the channels can account for this problem since the SLM is supposed to have a flat response to pink noise and humans have neural mechanisms to attend better to certain frequency bands. If the FR differs in the two speakers but the overall output is the same, the SLM says they are the same. Humans, however, will hear certain sounds louder on one than on the other.

Well, this is very strange. For whatever reason, my left speaker plays louder than the right (when trims are left at 0dB). I have calibrated my system using the Radio Shack meter and AVIA, and the meter tells me that the front stage is balanced once I set the trim for the left speaker to -4 dB.

But when I sit there and check the pink noise by ear, the output from the right speaker sounds noticeably louder than the left. I can't figure it out. Is it just the pink noise and the environment playing tricks on how loud I am perceiving the noise to be?



Well, use some common sense. If you have identical main speakers setup at the same distance from the listening position, then the trim levels should be near identical.

Use your ears for the final trim level setting. Just cycle the receiver test tones from speaker to speaker and make all the speaker levels sound the like they are at the same level.

Just as a note, my surrounds measure "low" when I use this "ear confimation" method. However, the surrounds sound too loud to my ears if I set all speaker levels to measure equal with the SPL meter.

I recommend initial setup with the SPL meter, but then confirm equal sound levels with your ears.


Note that different "pink noise" test tones will give you different results. The following chart shows the frequency distribution of my receiver's test tones. Green is for all of the main speakers. The other colors are for the subwoofer output test tones with various LFE high cut settings.


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Do the test tones sound different in timbre? Generally, a FR difference between the channels can account for this problem since the SLM is supposed to have a flat response to pink noise and humans have neural mechanisms to attend better to certain frequency bands. If the FR differs in the two speakers but the overall output is the same, the SLM says they are the same. Humans, however, will hear certain sounds louder on one than on the other.

Yes, I believe this explains it. The tone output of the right speaker not only sounds louder; it sounds different as well. Does this mean that something is not right with my speakers, or that this is a result of a non-treated environment? I believe I ran into this situation with my last pair of speakers as well, so I'm thinking that it might be a room thing.

I'll go ahead and try to adjust the trims by ear.

Yes, I believe this explains it. The tone output of the right speaker not only sounds louder; it sounds different as well. Does this mean that something is not right with my speakers, or that this is a result of a non-treated environment? I believe I ran into this situation with my last pair of speakers as well, so I'm thinking that it might be a room thing.

I'll go ahead and try to adjust the trims by ear.

If you saw this with another pair of speakers, chances are it is your room, and this is not uncommon.

Easy way to check though, switch your left speaker with your right. If everything sounds the same, you know it is room and not your system.

I'll go ahead and try to adjust the trims by ear.With such a timbre-imbalance, setting by ear or by SLM is equally wrong. :(

You gotta fix it.

Although Kal is the Master, Harrypt nailed it. If the speakers are the source, or less likely the amplifier, then switching the wires between left and right is a first step.

If that does not pinpoint the problem, unless the OP has confirmed with other equipment that his hearing is balanced, there is always a chance that his hearing (level and frequency response) is different in the left and right ears and that is responsible for some or all of the problem.

I concur that the OP should conisder the possibility that he has different levels of hearing loss in left and right ears. I know in my own case, I have more high-frequency loss in one ear than the other.

I would recommend to OP find an online hearing test and, using headphones and the playback software balance control, see if he has differential hearing loss. (Or visit an audiologist for a more accurate measurement)

Well, this is very strange. For whatever reason, my left speaker plays louder than the right (when trims are left at 0dB). I have calibrated my system using the Radio Shack meter and AVIA, and the meter tells me that the front stage is balanced once I set the trim for the left speaker to -4 dB.

But when I sit there and check the pink noise by ear, the output from the right speaker sounds noticeably louder than the left. I can't figure it out. Is it just the pink noise and the environment playing tricks on how loud I am perceiving the noise to be?
Are you speakers in phase? Is your receiver/amp on the fritz? Is the cabling need to be replaced? Try reversing the speaker connections and see if the difference moves to the other side... Then try reversing any other audio cables and see what happens...

4db is a pretty significant difference... I find it hard to believe that the acoustics on one side of the room are that much different than the other... JMHO