Hey all;

Well I've been playing with my stereo and a test CD lately. Turns out
that my CD player's outputs are SLIGHTLY different--left channel is a
few percent louder. My preamp, on the other hand, is moderately out of
balance in the opposite direction. One of my amps is substantially off
(an ancient and unrepaired Heathkit), whereas the others are dead on--
after fixing the preamp output levels.

But it's very interesting. I found that matching the output voltage across
the speaker terminals of the amp very carefully made a _substantial_
difference in my ability to place artists and instruments. It got me
wondering if in fact, much of the stereo imaging ability that people
attribute to amps and preamps is in fact tied directly to the balance
between the channels.

Has anyone got some thoughts on this? And am I completely off base here?
For that matter, how unmatched are amplifier channels typically, at the
various levels (mass-market, mid-fi, audiophile, and insane)?

Colin