Clarity sound problem

Hi,
I'm in the UK and new to this forum. I've owned a pair of Clarity speakers since 2006 and they worked flawlessly until 2 weeks ago. I had disconnected them to re-decorate my listening room. When that was completed, I placed both speakers on their sides on a thick rug to screw in the spikes. I then connected them back up to my system. I sat down to check and the right speaker was clearly operating at a lower level than the left. Stereo image was biased to the left. I did the usual things - swapped speakers over (bias moved to the right), used another amp, swapped speaker power packs, tried different sources apart from CD, swapped cables.
Eventually, I took the stat panel from the "faulty" right speaker and swapped it with the stat panel from the "good" left speaker. The problem didn't change - the right speaker stayed faulty. So - I presume the panels are OK.
My question is - is the problem with the internal power supply or perhaps with the crossover? I've no idea how this happened because I was very, very careful in placing the speakers on their sides.
Any help or advice would be terrific.

Thanks

From your description, it definitely sounds like the speaker is the problem. You swapped out power supplies and panels, but to no avail. That really is strange. I'm assuming you did that correctly, because the other speaker worked, so I am at a loss. My only suggestion is to call or email ML and they should be able to help.

I just reread your post. You didn't swap out power supplies. Ok, that's is probably the problem. Check power supply fuse, if yours have them. My power supply went out and when I contacted ML, they sent me a new one.

Thanks for replying. Scott at Martin Logan sent me instructions for swapping the stat panels between the two speakers to check them. I hope it is the power supply because I've ordered one from the UK distributor in London. No idea of cost!
When I connect the faulty speaker to the mains power supply, the blue LED illuminates straight away whereas before it would only illuminate when music started to play.
I've no idea how this happened. The speakers were both performing beautifully until I disconnected them to decorate the room. I must have done something wrong in re-connecting them but I've no idea what.

Thanks again

kilbowie54 said:

Thanks for replying. Scott at Martin Logan sent me instructions for swapping the stat panels between the two speakers to check them. I hope it is the power supply because I've ordered one from the UK distributor in London. No idea of cost!
When I connect the faulty speaker to the mains power supply, the blue LED illuminates straight away whereas before it would only illuminate when music started to play.
I've no idea how this happened. The speakers were both performing beautifully until I disconnected them to decorate the room. I must have done something wrong in re-connecting them but I've no idea what.

Thanks again

Click to expand...

Hola... is the bad speaker panel complete dead? Did you swap the power supplies too?... When you listen to the bad panel...is there a section of the panel that works fine? or the panel is totally lower in level than the other?
To diagnose correct we need to know all these... on the other side, if you did swap the panels, and the problem remained the same, the suspect is the power supply. Usually there are 5 resistor of 15M... one of these could be bad. From the red color cable that it is connected at the power suply that goes to the panel, this is the bias voltage. Be caruful because you have here about 3.5K to 4KV D.C. To measure this voltage, you need a special probe. Following the printed circuit board from this red cable, you will find these resistors. They are located after the voltage multiplier...you will see a diode capacitor resistor, diode capacitor resistor several times, and also, you will get to the transformer. This transformer could be bad also. Happy listening,
Roberto.

Was the system powered up, amp on, when you connected the speaker wire and the speaker AC cord?

The bad speaker isn't completely dead - there is a little sound from the stat panel but it's at a very low level. Woofer and NEC driver seem OK. I didn't swap the power supply boards between the good and bad speakers because I wasn't sure how to go about this. I did remove the speaker base to check that all the connections were OK - they seemed to be.
The system amplifier (a Primare) was on "stand-by" when I made the connections.

Apart from the very low sound level, it's the fact that the blue LED lights up immediately on connecting the speaker to the power that's different.

Thanks again for your replies.

I think what your gona have to do is replace the electronics by taking the panel at the back

To replace this part will cost about 400 pounds sterling I would guess but here in america we send this panel with the electronics to martin logan . The techs perform a fix on this and send it back and it costs about 90 pounds but your in the uk and shipping will kick your bloody arse

Actually, just recently had the same problem. It ended up being the power supply board. Mine was about $200 Canadian from the distributor. Once I got the new board it, good as new. I replaced the board myself as I did not want to pay the shipping costs.

If you really want to get down and dirty, open them up and swap the boards in the base; the ones by the transformer. Be very careful to mark which wire goes where. I used masking tape to label everything. Set aside some dedicated time and be very patient. It's really not all that difficult.

I still have the Clarity Service manual PDF so if you're interested, PM me and I can email it to you.

MickeyVee said:

Actually, just recently had the same problem. It ended up being the power supply board. Mine was about $200 Canadian from the distributor. Once I got the new board it, good as new. I replaced the board myself as I did not want to pay the shipping costs.

If you really want to get down and dirty, open them up and swap the boards in the base; the ones by the transformer. Be very careful to mark which wire goes where. I used masking tape to label everything. Set aside some dedicated time and be very patient. It's really not all that difficult.

I still have the Clarity Service manual PDF so if you're interested, PM me and I can email it to you.

Click to expand...

Thats odd that you only paid $200 because the replacement board in the matinee center channel costs $400 to replace but $ 80 if you send it in for a fix

Confirmed $243.58 with taxes & shipping (found the invoice). There are three boards in the Clarity's.. crossover, transformer & AC-DC Power Supply. It's the power supply that I replaced. I have the documented retail on the board and its less than 1/2 what I paid. Makes me wonder what the deal is with the various distributors and charges for repairs and parts.

projectormovielover said:

Thats odd that you only paid $200 because the replacement board in the matinee center channel costs $400 to replace but $ 80 if you send it in for a fix

Click to expand...

Thanks to everyone for their comments and help. I think I'll try and swap over the power supply boards between the "good" and "faulty" speaker Sunday, when I've time. I'll need to remove the board anyway when the replacement I ordered from the UK distributor eventually arrives and it'll be good practice for me.
I took a chance ordering the board because I'm not the most patient person and I just want my speakers to work again as beautifully as they were before!
Still no idea what the board will cost in the UK but I'm guessing 200 UK pounds or more, given that US prices in $$ usually translate into the same number of ££.
The speakers cost over £2000 in the UK when new - over $4000 at the exchange rate at that time.

Thanks again to everyone.

Finally obtained a replacement power supply board from the UK distributor. Cost £228 including all taxes. ($369 US at current exchange rate). Board is slightly different from the original one installed - connector pins 3 & 4 on the new board are in slightly different locations and I'd have had great difficulty making the correct connections without the Clarity Service Manual that MickeyVee very kindly e-mailed to me. Anyway, I installed the new board and connected up and the blue LED illuminated straight away once again, just as it had when the speaker broke. I was pretty crestfallen but then I put on a record and the speaker sounded fine! So - the power supply replacement has worked but I'm still puzzled as to why the blue LED illuminates straight away and it never did before.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I couldn't have carried out this task otherwise and I would have been out a lot more than £228 having my Clarities shipped off to the UK distributor for checking and repair.