My stereo amplifier only sends sound through the left speaker..help?

Question

i have a pretty old panasonic stereo system but the amplifier on it only sends sound through the left speaker.any help..is their a way to fix it myself or cheaply ( i have no money) or should i buy a new one..ive had my stereo system since 1989 it kind of means alot to me...any suggestions thank you.

im pretty familiar with this kind of stuff...if some one could walk me through , that would be great

Answer 1

Well, the first thing that you need to do is to isolate the problem, to make sure that it is the amp.

So, if it drives the left speaker, only, try plugging the left speaker to the wire that normally goes to the right speaker, and vice versa. If the left speaker still works that way, then its the speaker thats busted.

Then, try another speaker wire in place of the one going from your amp's left speaker output. It could be a bad wire.

If all that does show that it's the amp, well, it could be the speaker wire post, but it could also be something inside of the amp or the pre amp section. That  I can't help you with.

Especially as you didn't mention a model number or any details of which gear it is.

Answer 2

Older stereo equipment has problems like this pretty often because the older equipment still used real switches and volume pots.  You might try to go out and get some electrical contact cleaner at Radio Shack or a home store.  With the unit unplugged remove the cover and find the input selector switch.  It will be the switch inside that the k**b that selects which input you are using goes to (phone, FM, cassette etc).  Spray a small amount of cleaner inside that switch while turning the switch several times through every position.  Use the long nozzle that comes with the cleaner to direct the spray inside the switch.   Clean the main volume control the same way.  This may very well fix your problem.

I have brought many old stereos "back to life" with just simple contact cleaner.