Balance problems can be caused by your room and speaker placement. I also have the center image 1-2 meters to the left side. And the dmp a-8 does not have an easy balance adjustment. Maybe in a future update……? try to switch the left and right cables and see if the center goes to the right side of the soundstage. if so then your equipment is the problem. if not, it is your room or speakers. Switch your speakers too and experiment.
I would like to support the OP in questioning the quality of the preamp in the A8. I can confirm that it's just not very good in comparison to the quality of the streamer and DAC. Fortunately I have an external preamp that's much better sounding (Topping Pre90). Purite Audio is a flat out joke, trying to tell other people to not listen to their own ears, and instead only believe what he tells them. Stop polluting this forum, please. Makes other people not want to even bother posting. As a combined streamer and DAC, the Eversolo A8 is a fantastic unit. But the preamp is sub par. Too bad, since I would have loved to use this as a one-box solution.
Topping D90 this one? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/topping-d90-balanced-usb-dac-review.10519/ Presumably the D90 pre ? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-pre90-review-preamplifier.18283/ Keith
How exactly, presumably you level matched ( how did you do that) and at least asked someone else to switch what was your set up ? Keith
Hi, guys! After a lot o testing and speaker positioning, the A8 pre imagine gets better and I noticed the unbalanced sound no more. Thanks for all responses.
Glad the OP improved their stereo image. To respond to Purite, I'm an experienced audiophile of 25 years, and have acquired a highly transparent system over that time. I know how to do critical listening, and compare equipment to find something I like. To me, it's a night and day difference in quality on the A8 preamp vs using a modest external preamp like the Pre90.
Your knowledge of hi-fi is incredibly small, even if a tube amplifier in many cases measures worse compared to a transistor amplifier, it doesn't have to sound worse, it's more a matter of taste... Won't you stop convincing us all that you can see everything about sound quality just by looking at measurements ! Many times you would think you were married to ASR, and it just gets a little too weird When I buy hifi, I use my ears, like so many others
A listener can of course prefer a distorted sound that is their choice, interestingly many claim to enjoy the ‘euphoric’ distortion of valves even when the component they are listening to is audibly transparent, that is the power of cognitive dissonance, and the majesty of measurement. Keith
Yawn... The audio nihilism gets so tiring after a while. I suppose if Purite Audio doesn't like me method of A/B testing, he will attempt to invalidate my personal opinion. If two pieces of gear measure the same, they do not sound the same. Do two pieces of food with the same caloric content taste the same? What a joke. I wonder if this guy even understands the difference between frequency domain distortion, and time domain distortion. The latter is what really matters, but it's almost never measured.
I would have to know your method, as you haven’t yet told me… ‘time domain distortion’ what is that? Keith
For what it's worth, I have been listening to my A8 since the middle of December. I tried it briefly without a preamp then hooked up my tube Audible Illusions 3A which was just overhauled by the manufacturer. I used the analog out to the pre then the pre to my LSA Warp 1 amplifier. It sounds good. I am using the internal DAC which sounds as good or better than my Gustard R26 ladder DAC via IIs. I recently took the preamp out of the chain and hooked my Clearway RCAs analog out directly to the RCA Analog in on my amp. I was surprised at the increased overall clarity and definition in the bass without sounding bright or harsh in any way. The soundstage is as good or better without the preamp. I have been curious of how the unit would sound if I used balanced cables. I purchased some decent used Wireworld Eclipse 7 unbalanced XLR cables from USAudiomart. After hooking the A8 to the Warp1 using the XLR's, the system went up another notch or 2. I am completely floored by how good this unit sounds without a preamp. I might put it back in just to compare again, but I am loving the way it sounds without. Your mileage may vary.
for my critical listening the dmp a-8 is a perfect one box solution. the pre amp in the dmp a-8 is indeed very very good.
Just be patient Keith (Purite) will soon get bored of Eversolo and start selling a new product that is the best thing ever made (normally shortly after ASR gives it a good objective review)
Good one. So I called up my friend who has been making her living on building hi-fi equipment since the 1970s. She informed me that this phenomenon has been well-studied, and even has it's own acronyms. One one end of the spectrum, we have the "Leaden Eared Meter Readers", who think published measurements define sound quality over all else. AKA... the LEMR or "lemur". On the other end, we have the "Golden Eared Subjective Reviewers", who try every latest fad and snake oil, and have a full lexicon of audiophile vocabulary. AKA... the GESR or "guesser" I personally fall somewhere in the middle. Since I know how to read spec sheets and identify which products will have a sound that I like. And then perform subjective listening comparisons.
An example of two extreemes in one review: https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-note-cdt-oneii-cd-transport-dac-21x-signature-da-processor Heard: "Conclusions I don't know what John Atkinson will find when he measures the Audio Notes' performance, but I can make a good guess. My previous experience with the company's digital source components suggests that the DAC 2.1x Signature, in particular, may generate distortion products of which other, more technologically up-to-date digital products are comparatively free. I would also guess that Audio Note will take this in stride. They make no secret of the fact that their approach to digital audio is technologically out of step with almost everyone else's—or of their belief that their approach results in products of superior musicality, whatever else they do or don't accomplish. The question of whether the sound of the Audio Notes should be praised as being true to the essence of music, or blamed for trading in pleasing distortions, will never be answered to the satisfaction of all—at least not in a 2800-word product review. What I can say for sure is that the musical strengths of the CDT One/II CD transport and DAC 2.1x Signature DAC are incontrovertible: With the possible exceptions of the mighty Naim CD555 and Audio Note's own CD-4.1x, I have never heard a CD player that beats this combination in the ability to involve me in the magic of notes and rhythms, or that presents lines of notes in such a musical and attention-grabbing manner. Vigorously recommended. - Art Dudley" Measured: "Overall, it is difficult to avoid the temptation to describe the Audio Note DAC 2.1x Signature as "broken"! But other than its poor rejection of jitter, most of its measured problems stem from the decision to dispense with the usually obligatory reconstruction filter. Without those filter-related issues, you are left with a product whose distortion signature is predominantly the subjectively preferred second harmonic, but also a product that should not be used with preamplifiers of low input impedance."—John Atkinson
