[IronLion]

I don't know what is wrong with my setup but I imagine at this point it must be some inherent quality of my room dimensions that makes the image always skew to the right; singers are always off to the right a good bit, a little more than halfway to the right of the midpoint between the centerpoint between the speakers and the right monitor. 

I've tried moving the speakers around within their respective locations (I can't change the entire layout of the room), swapping speakers and speaker cables and interconnects and none of these have done anything to help.  I'm pretty sure its the room causing this, but I don't know how to fix it with the room treatments I have, or if it would even be possible to in the first place.  My room is slightly odd shaped but not THAT oddly shaped, so maybe this is solvable?  Perhaps some diffusion is needed somewhere? 

As far as acoustic treatments go, I have two GIK tri-traps and three GIK 242 panels, as well as a single Eighth Nerve Adapt that I have yet to mount, mainly because I'm not sure where it would be most effective.  I put the two GIK tri-traps in the front corners behind the speakers, with one 242 directly behind the listening chair, and the other two covering the first reflection points on the sidewalls.  I thought I had all of the bases covered in at least a basic way, but these room treatments haven't fixed this problem of imaging askew...   

Please, anybody, anybody at all that has had this problem and been able to fix it help me out!  I feel like my system is finally dialed in for the most part but the way it images is really driving me crazy because I can't seem to fix it or even make it better.    I attached a diagram of my room below for anybody that can help another ACer out...the position of the subwoofer has been relocated and I am still experimenting with that, but the imaging is always to the right, even with the subwoofer off obviously. 

EDIT:  The left and right channels (which by the way are Zu Tones) are now equal distances from the right and left walls; I moved some furniture that prevented this before, which is why in the diagram below the right channel has more space from the sidewall than the left channel.  This is no longer the case. 



 

[mfsoa]

Have you tried covering those glass doors on your right?

[IronLion]

Yeah, I tried covering them with all three of my 242 panels; little to no change unfortunately...

[macrojack]

Is it possible to adjust your image center focus by adjusting only one speaker's toe-in? I imagine you have them aimed more or less at your listening chair. If the positioning is symmetrical, you might benefit by changing the aim of one speaker or the other. I don't know if it will work but it's an easy and cheap experiment.

[rabpaul]

As already suggested have the left speaker fire forward i.e no toe-in, leaving the right speaker as is and see what change that produces.

[Haoleb]

I have a similar problem with my system, But it seems biased to the left by the slightest bit. My room is quite oddly shaped, A bit like a T, So Im not sure if its the room or my imagination, or my hearing or what. I think it also has to do with the fact that my odyssey monoblocks are on the right side or my rack and both have very bright blue LED's, Like it screws with my eyes and then with my hearing.  Sounds crazy? uh yeah!. I can definetly listen more critically if I cover up all the led's on my gear. Otherwise its like daytime!

[Big Red Machine]

Sometimes a bad tube, or weak one, will shift the image toward the stronger channel.  Using any tube amps?

[bpape]

Well, you'll have more than 1 reflection point on each side wall and most likely 1 panel on each side won't cover both of them in your setup - especially with the non-symmetry.

Bryan

[IronLion]

Well, you'll have more than 1 reflection point on each side wall and most likely 1 panel on each side won't cover both of them in your setup - especially with the non-symmetry.

Bryan

Hey Bryan, can you elaborate some more upon this and perhaps indicate where you think the other reflection points would be?  I just went by the basic "where you would see the speakers on the sidewalls with a mirror" rule.     

I'm using a class D amp so no tubes to worry about here...

[Housteau]

Sometimes a bad tube, or weak one, will shift the image toward the stronger channel.  Using any tube amps?

Yes.  Is it possible this is an electrical issue?  Try some tests.  Switch your channels around, right for left starting at your amps output.  If the imbalance is still there place it back to normal and switch it at the interconnects leaving your preamp.  If nothing changes, then do your source.  At least at this point you can eliminate an electrical issue.

[hmen]

I've lived in my house for 13 years and I'm on my fifth system in my listening room.
I have I've always had the same exact problem.  The image skews to the right no matter what I do.  The funny part is that you seem to have a little extra room on the right while i have extra room on the left.  I've added an extra Realtraps minitrap and Realtraps FRZ to the right wall and it's helped a little. The glass in your sliding doors might be reflecting back more sound than wall on the left with the door. If you cover the two glass sliding doors with thick foam or just replace them with drywall and replace the door with a bass trap it might help  

[Tweaker]

It could be the volume pot in your preamp, assuming you are using one. Years ago I had a preamp that had a volume pot that tracked the two channels unequally until turned up high enough. As a matter of fact, I've had two preamps with that problem.

[AB]

This might seem extreme but I had a similar problem and to finally determine if it was the room, the gear or the furniture, I removed everything from the room except for the speakers and the gear.
In the mostly empty room the imaging was spot on in the middle.
I then returned the traps to restore the freq balance and then replaced one piece of furniture at a time until the image skewed again. It turns out it was my couch screwing things up. So no more couch.
I was impressed at what each piece of furniture did to the sound. Big pieces had big effects.

For the most part my listening room is empty now but for a chair, some plants, a long wooden table and a bookcase of CDs.

[Housteau]

It could be the volume pot in your preamp, assuming you are using one. Years ago I had a preamp that had a volume pot that tracked the two channels unequally until turned up high enough. As a matter of fact, I've had two preamps with that problem.

My Audio Research preamp does the same thing.  You must consider things like this unless you have already eliminated this possibility by doing the testing I suggested in my earlier post.  This is especially true for older gear.  I just use the balance control with a couple clicks to the side that needs it, depending upon the volume setting.  Although one day I may actually fix the preamp .

[bpape]

I had a similar problem but in my case, it was a matter of a mismatched tube level in the preamp.

As for the reflection points, what you did was correct.  However, remember that you have a point for each speaker on each wall.  Many people make the error of only finding the point for the speaker closest to the wall.  On the right wall, there will be a reflection from both the left and right speaker for each listening position.  2 speakers, 2 seats, 4 points.  2 speakers, 3 seats, 6 points - etc.

Bryan

[John Casler]

To test if it is the system or the room, simply reverse the L&R outputs of the "source".

If it moves to the other side, it is the system.

If it stays, it is the room.

[John Casler]

To test if it is the system or the room, simply reverse the L&R outputs of the "source".

If it moves to the other side, it is the system.

If it stays, it is the room.

Another possibiilty, is that "one" of the speakers is mis-wired, out of phase.

[mikecole]

One thing to try besides toe-in is to move one speaker forward. That has worked for me in the past.

Mike

[Bill Baker]

Some options:

 Not mentioning the system, it could be a phase issue with the amp, especially if a tube amp.

 One by one, start swapping your cables. If you have a multi meter, measure the resistance of your cables to see if they are balanced properly. One may have a higher resistance resulting in some attenuation in that channel.

 If tube components are involved, it could be a tube as mentioned previously by someone else.

 If you have amono switch, this would also tell you where you are at in regard to teh system itself or you could simply move the speakers further out into the room and closer together and see how the system reacts in nearfield listening. This removes the room effects.