A modification to supplement the experimental procedure required to identify the symmetry of point and axial defects in silicon via photoluminescent piezo-spectroscopy is reported. The modification requires that uniaxial stress be applied along a crystal direction of very low symmetry such that all orientational degeneracy is removed. Theoretical shift rate equations for all orientationally degenerate transitions and electronically degenerate states in a tetrahedral host crystal are calculated for stress applied along an arbitrary direction (X Y Z). These calculations are corroborated against the predictions of previous work and are used to successfully predict the stress induced splitting of the 983.21 MeV CdA line in silicon under stress along the (1 3 6) crystal axis. The advantages this low-symmetry-axis perturbation-spectroscopy (LSAPS) technique offers in conjunction with standard uniaxial stress analysis techniques are discussed.