Stuck in the Middle Problem

[Tim Nelson <tcn62@ici.net>]

Help! I'm perplexed. Perhaps this has happened to you:

My looping rack includes a poly synth, a mono synth, a DBX 266 compressor,
an Alesis SR-16, a MiniDisc deck, a graphic EQ (not hooked up right now due
to a patch cord shortage), a SansAmp, a Korg SDD-1000 for short loops, an
ART ProVerb and a Headrush, all connected to a Spirit Folio board. (Yes,
they're all in one rack; it's huge, but it's on wheels and everything stays
plugged in so I can set up in two minutes. It's called the
missioncontrolherniamaker...) Guitar, bass and theremin go into the mixer
through a separate on-the-floor pedalboard which also splits off to a
separate guitar amp, and sometimes I plug a mic into the board to loop
flutes, didgeridu and the odd acoustic thingy when I'm in a low-noise
setting (not all that often...).

(Clowns to the left of me...)

Here's the problem: until today, I amplified the stuff in the rack by
sending two lines out from the board to two separate bass amps, each with
cabs. A couple of hours ago, I put a stereo power amp (a one-space 90w/ch
Electar EPA-200) into the rack, the idea being that I'd get a cleaner
full-range sound and would no longer have to carry two bass heads around.
It sounds fine, BUT only if I keep all my pans exactly centered and keep my
two output faders at exactly the same level, otherwise I get horrible
distortion. (I actually like ugly, mangled distortion sometimes when used
sparingly, but this is overboard and useless...) I'm also finding that I
can't use either of the stereo channels (the MiniDisc deck and the drum
machine) for the same reason, and that's not good.

(Jokers to the right...)

Obviously this defeats the whole purpose of running in stereo. Ordinarily,
I like to be able to position my two loopers at different places in the
stereo field, and also tend to pan powerful bassy sounds away from more
subtle stuff that would otherwise get swamped.

(Here I am...)

I've already double-checked the wiring to ensure that the polarity is all
copacetic and everything, the amp's mono/bridge switch is in the correct
position, the board's not overloading, the input levels are fine; I can't
find a problem...

(Stuck in the middle in MONO...)

What shoulds me do? Can anyone help me segue that Stealer's Wheel tune into
the Cars' "Moving In Stereo"? (Not that that's such a great tune or
anything, but you get the point...)

Tim