At my wits end with my AscentI

I have a pair of Martin Logan Ascenti that were given to me by my grandfather when he passed. They are about ten years old and have had very little use. I have been using then for the past few years with no problems. One day I came home and turned on my trusty stereo and I only heard the woofers playing. The blue lights behind the panels were illuminated. After a ton of troubleshooting and getting nowhere I called Martin logan. Their technical support is top of the line by the way. Not being sure what the problem was they suggested I send them my back panels. Martin logan tested them and they passed, nothing wrong with them. They said the only thing left could be the panels were bad. About $3k for a pair and since they were a custom build there was no return if it was not the panels.

As for troubleshooting, I tired new cables, new amps, new power cables to the ML, Im out of ideas.

I was hoping someone could shed some light on my situation. I find it hard to believe that one day the speakers work fine and the next day they are both dead.

Thanks in advance for any help.

There are a couple of other people who can repair your panels for much cheaper than buying new ones from ML. Here is one of the links I found. I know there are a couple more, but couldn't find them. Maybe another member will know.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?14994-Replacements-for-ReQuest-panels

No way. Both panels don't just "go bad" all at once. And on a ten year old slightly used pair of Ascent i's they shouldn't be going bad at all. I'm guessing it is a power supply problem, but I don't know enough to be able to help. Hopefully one of our more technical members will chime in on this thread.

And if ML customer support can't help you out troubleshooting the issue more than that, I'm not sure I would call them top of the line. The truth is they fired the guy that really knew his stuff on these older speakers years ago when they reorganized the company. I have no doubt he could have helped you out. For that matter, three grand for replacement panels is utterly ridiculous. The speakers only cost four grand brand new. Replacement panels took a huge jump in price when they reorganized the company. Unfortunately, it seems that now greed takes precedence over customer service at ML.

Strange for both to go out at the same time!

Might try calling Russ at justrealmusic for some diagnostics?

You're not bi-amping are you? Or even bi-wiring? Maybe one of the terminals on the amplifier has gone bad?

It's highly unusual that both speakers went bad at the same time.

In any case, have you checked that the jumpers between the woofer and panel terminals are secure?

You should perhaps remove the panels and check for loose wires.

Hola. As you do know now that the panels do not go away at the same time, the culprit should be the lack of high voltage. There is no bias voltage at the panels. What could be wrong? A big electric transient could cause that failure. Part of the PSU might be working fine, a reason why you see the blue light on. Do you have electronic skills where you could test these boards? I am 92% sure that this is your problem!

roberto said:

Hola. As you do know now that the panels do not go away at the same time, the culprit should be the lack of high voltage. There is no bias voltage at the panels. What could be wrong? A big electric transient could cause that failure. Part of the PSU might be working fine, a reason why you see the blue light on. Do you have electronic skills where you could test these boards? I am 92% sure that this is your problem!

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Thanks for all your replies. I tried new cables and different amps, neither worked. The thing that is getting me is that I sent the entire back panel (all the electronics) to martin logan and they tested them and told me they are 100% functional. Could it be that they missed something and they are actually bad? I don't really have any electronic skill that I am willing to test on my ML speakers. Im going to try Russ and see what he can do for me.

Thanks again for all you help.
Much appreciated.

Power supply issue.

PS: Reread your initial post. If you sent all the electronics on the back panel to ML and all passed, that blows my theory. But Roberto's comment is intriguing. Why would ML miss this if they in fact tested the stuff?

Random thoughts. AC outlets / breaker panel. Panel wiring connection as previously stated. Very strange.

Good luck.

GG

When you figure out the issue and find a solution, please post an update. This sort of information is invaluable to other people experiencing similar issues and looking for information.

Rich said:

When you figure out the issue and find a solution, please post an update. This sort of information is invaluable to other people experiencing similar issues and looking for information.

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Spoke with Russ today in detail and he does not think ML could be that careless in regards to testing the boards. We decided to remove the electrostats and send them to him for testing. To quote him he is 95% sure thats the problem. I will keep everyone posted as we find out more information.

Once again thanks for all the invaluable information and help.

Let me suggest a very simple test (if you haven't done it already): please check the outlets where you plugged in the speakers' power cables. You could use a lamp or some other electric device to see if it works. If the speakers are not plugged in the wall outlets directly but rather through a distribution/power bar, then check that one too the same way. Let us know

Pener said:

Let me suggest a very simple test (if you haven't done it already): please check the outlets where you plugged in the speakers' power cables. You could use a lamp or some other electric device to see if it works. If the speakers are not plugged in the wall outlets directly but rather through a distribution/power bar, then check that one too the same way. Let us know

Click to expand...

OP: "The blue lights behind the panels were illuminated."
So there is power in the outlets.

I must have missed that one...

there is another place to check: panels' connection via screw-down block/bar.

and one place that OP hasn't check yet (or at least hasn't mentioned it) is the source and pre. plugging in a different set of speakers would help eliminate entire upstream of the speakers' binding posts

stoneskid said:

One day I came home and turned on my trusty stereo and I only heard the woofers playing.

Click to expand...

Seems to eliminate problems with anything upstream....

Tosh said:

Seems to eliminate problems with anything upstream....

Click to expand...

not in my book... just because he can hear the woofer playing doesn't mean that anything and everything upstream is OK.

To update everyone, spoke with Russ and he was 98% sure it was the panels. Sent him the panels, well as most of you said it was not the panels. Now Im boxing up the electronics and sending those to him.

And it continues. . . . .

Stoneskid, is there any update to this problem?