Hiss and muffled highs in my Vantages

Dear forum,

I am new both here and as ML owner. I recently bought a pair of Vamtages second hand a a very good price. When I heard them at sellers, they seemed to sound good. I will admit that I did not test them very thoroughly (I got them at a good price,...)

My problem is, that there is a weak, but audible hiss from the panels, and that the highs seems to very restricted resulting in a slightly muffled sound. I have vacuumed them 4 times in two weeks. In the beginning it got better every time, but now the improvements have stagnated.

The speakers are 6 years old, so there is a chance the panes are near the end of their lives. As I understand, this could explain the restricted highs, but what about the hiss? It seems to come from the whole panel, and it is very "white-noise" like.

Any advise is much appreciated.

Best regards,
Bevensee

Hola. Are both speakers doing the same thing? Play music, then stop. Turn off the amplifier, and disconnect both speakers from the amp. Are the hiss still there? Do it fast, because the internal panel shut off circuit will act in about five minutes. If the hiss is there, is it at all the panel, or just a section of the panel? Did you do the procedure of washing them with mild water from a hose at your bathroom or yard?... better, contact martin logan service dept. They will guide you to track your problem. Happy listening!

Hi Roberto,

Thanks for your reply. In response to your questions:
1) Hiss and restricted highs are from both speakers.
2) Hiss comes from the whole panel, but there is occasionally high-pitched sounds from various small areas/spots.
3) I did not try to wash them (yet). I do not know how to take them apart.
4) Contacting ML service may indeed be a good idea. But any advice I can get from here before will help me ask more intelligent questions to them, so advice is appreciated.

Regards,
Jesper

Try hard vacuuming after disconnecting over night.


J

jmschnur said:

Try hard vacuuming after disconnecting over night.


J

Click to expand...

Already vacuumed them 4 times with brush head. What i hard vacuuming?

Slow and very close after power off over might. Both sides . But have tried. Washing next I guess.


J

Could it be your preamp or source?


J

jmschnur said:

Could it be your preamp or source?


J

Click to expand...

Nope. Tried with different preamp, poweramp, source, and speakercables. Also tried various different combinations of grounded/not grounded power. Managed to introduce hum trough my antenna cable, but other than that, no change. Hiss stays after disconnecting speakers from amp, until they go into standby.

Jesper

Does anyone have a PDF on how to remove xstat panels?

The PDF in the showering sticky only explain how to take the old ones apart. I don't really dare "doing surgery" (showering) without a manual

showering is a last resort, IMHO. If I were you, i'd shoot off an email to ML tech support and get their feedback.

https://www.martinlogan.com/support/contact.php

TomDac said:

showering is a last resort, IMHO. If I were you, i'd shoot off an email to ML tech support and get their feedback.

https://www.martinlogan.com/support/contact.php

Click to expand...

I'm with Tom on this as well, FWIW and IMO 7 year old panels should not need replacing yet unless they were abused and or operated in a poor environment.

received service manual from Martin Logan

Thanks to all for the good advice.

I called ML service, and got in contact with Kurt Stockhammer. He indicated that it could be the power supply. I have just received a mail from him with the full Vantage Service Manual. I will pursuit the power supply line, and update on the forum.

If you're reading, Kurt: Thanks for excellent support so far!

I had the same problem with one of mine Summits and the problem was the panel ,changing the panel to the other side and the problem stays by the panel. Be sure that the problem is the power supply befor you pursuit them . I think it is unlikely that both power supplies are broken.

So it seems that things were good at the sellers. Then they were transported. How were they transported. If they were in boxes - how clean were the boxes

Hej!
I was tracking down some localized very faint hiss/leakage whine from my SL3's, which at first appeared to come from 'all over' the panel. But if I went over the panel slowly with my hand cupped to my ear, I could pin point the exact spot, where when I examined the area, it turned out there was a fiber, hair, or dead insect bridging the gap (and almost always on the top edge of a foam spacer). Then I could use a magnifier to see and remove it with a fine brush and vacuum. That made the hiss better, but of course there's still some faint squealing which is normal for ESLs...

As for 'muffled highs' I suggest you experiment with set up. Are you new to ESL's? Their lack of distortion can be interpreted as 'muffled highs' to the uninitiated -- until you play a recording with actual highs in it....

Hi again, thanks for the input.
Timm: Yes thing were more or less ok at the seller. But I did not check it that carefully. He offerered me a very good price. The hiss I have is inaudible when there is music. Therefore it could easily have been there at the seller also. The problem of muffled highs have gone better. A lot better, actually. I suspect they may have attracted some moisture during transport, and that this have slowly evaporated over a few weeks. The faint hiss is still there, though, so I am still pursuing potential problems. There were no boxes, so we carefully put them on some blankets in the back of a Volvo stationcar.

Tosh: OK, I will try to do the "cupped hands" test to see if the hiss is really from the whole panel or if it is localized.

Additionally, I am in dialogue with Martin Logan Service department. They are helping me check if the PSUs are operating as they should.

Hola... It is good to know that you are in he best hands! Happy listening!

roberto said:

Hola... It is good to know that you are in he best hands! Happy listening!

Click to expand...

Yes, it really seems that the Martin Logan service department lives up to its excellent reputation. And just to get things into perspective; apart form the hiss (which I can only hear between tracks) the Vantages sound very very good already now! But IF there is an issue with the PSU, I would be foolish not to investigate it. But it really is amazing how much the highs have come to live all by itself over a couple of weeks. A change of climate can apparently have great effect on stats. Right now, I am enjoying Askanazy's and Perlman's fantastic recording of Beethoven's Kreuzer sonata - in glorious Decca vinyl sound!

Glad to hear that the folks at ML are taking good care of you.... I've NEVER heard them not providing anything but outstanding customer service.... Keep us posted...

A little update on my Vantages:
Things have just kept on improving, more or less by themselves. I have vacuumed them every week, and it seems the hiss is somewhat related to the panels. I tried the cupped hands trick, and it seemed that the hiss came from all over the panel. Anyway, now the hiss is almost gone. I can only hear it if there is no signal and if I stand less then 1 m from the speakers. In other words: It is almost completely gone! I have a suspicion that the previous owner never vacuumed them, so I will keep on giving them a run-over every week for a while. I dont think there is anything wrong with the PSUs.

I have never before come across speakers that would take so ling (a month!) to really settle in a new home, but there you have it: Stats are not for the faint of heart, but the reward if worth the effort.

Thanks to all, especially Roberto and Tom for your advice and help. I will not post much more in this thread as I consider theproblem solved. In stead, I will soon start a new thread with my - now completely positive - experience with the Vantages Happy new year to all!

Cheers,
Jesper