I just did some testing in front of my home stereo, and although at one point thought I might have it figured out, I tried another option, which got me confused again...
I re-created the same conditions that caused me trouble at the festival, and came out with the same results - very low level in the right channel (-40dB) at rec level 10, while the left channel had a strong signal strength at rec level 6. That was with the red tipped/right side mic cable going into both the right channel of the Marantz 661 rec input, and the red tipped/right side mic cable going into right side Busman BSC1 mic(right side while standing behind the mic stand). *Test #1*
Then I switched the cables going into the mic bodies. So the right cable was now going into the left side mic, and the left cable was now going into the right side mic. I did not change the cables going into the 661 recorder. This option resulted in the left channel of the 661's rec level now being the one that would only peak at -40dB, while the right channel had strong signal strength. *Test #2*
Then I switched back the cables going into the mic bodies, and just switched the mic cables going into the 661. This resulted in the same findings as happened in the previous Test #2...*Test #3*
At this point I thought I had a faulty mic cable as my problem.
Then I re-created Test #1, except that now I switched only the mic bodies. So the right cable was going into both the right channel of the 661, and the right side Busman mic, and the left cable was going into the left channel of the 661 and the left side Busman mic. Except now Busman mic serial #75, which was the right side in Test #1, was now the left side mic(standing behind the mic stand), and Busman mic serial #76, which was the left side in Test #1, was now the right side. This test resulted in good, strong signal levels on both rec levels of the 661 - as if there was no problem at all. *Test #4*
What's the deal with Test #4? Do I always have to make sure that Busman mic serial #76 has to be on the right side of my stereo bar, and serial #75 on the left side? Are these mic's made to be channel-specific? Any suggestions for other tests?
Harold