EM ESL problem, help needed.

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Stoney

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I've been proud & pleased ESL owner for almost a year now. Recently I discovered somewhat odd problem with my speakers, actually one of them. Seems like one on my panels has lost all the mid-ranges. When listening it close to the speaker, highs are coming through and bass works ok, but most of the panel is quiet. I have checked & double-checked the connections and switched places of the speakers to verify that the problem doesn't originate from the rest of my system, or from power connection. As far as I know, speaker hasn't been in contact with any unwanted substances, but it may have been in contact with our cat. There are some marks on the panel, but I had the impression that such would not have any effect on the panel. Here I am left with no ideas, so any help would be very appreciated.
 
Hola Stoney and welcome. Contact Dana Brown at Martin Logan service dept. [email protected] He will guide you to track your problem easy. He is a very knowledge person and also, he is a gentleman!. To me, you have an internal power supply issue. Then, you have to open the cabinet from the bottom. Lay on its side, the bad speaker. There are eight philips type screws securing the opening. Follow from the power supply connector, the two wires and where these cables go, is the internal power supply. Look and make a drawing to the connections there. There are several cables and connectors there. Make a little mark with the aid of a marker to know which is the suspected PC Board, and swap it from the other speaker. If the problem changed, then that is what you have to get. Happy listening.
 
If you bought them new, they are still under warranty. I would contact your dealer about a warranty repair.
 
Update on the matter. First of all, received great deal of assistance from ML about how to dissemble the speaker. Talked to local dealer, who was in contact with distributor. Since speakers are relatively new we came to conclusion to send the faulty one to distributor for further inspection rather than taking it apart on my own. We agreed that I take the speaker to dealer who sends it on its way. So far, noting but grade A assistance & service. I'll see how it goes.

This simply is the best sounding set of speakers I have had over the years, so really, really hoping this will get sorted out.
 
Final update on the matter, in case anyone is interested. My ESL returned from distributor today. Panel & inner power supply replaced. Didn't get any further information. Apparently got covered by warranty. So, nothing but grade A service from ML & local distributor. I'm one happy camper again.
 
:rocker:Hola, and yes, those are one of a kind. The electromotions own the Martin Logan magic! Glad to know that everything now is working as it should! Happy listening!:rolleyes:
 
Thought I'd share my latest and final experiences with you. After getting my ESL fixed, didn't take much more than couple of weeks until other panel started fading away. Once again, retailer & distributor took care of the matter, this time it took a lot longer though. As far as I know, same fixes as with the first one. All well, both speakers eventually back to operational status. But....I tried asking for possible causes for this unexpected breakage, got no actual response. I actually wasn't in direct contact with distributor. I thought if they hadn't given anything concrete to retailer I wasn't even expecting them to give me any. Although it was made very clear that there hasn't been breakages with ESL's as far as the distributor knows of. That didn't assure me in any way. Mine were broken, no matter "if there hasn't been any....." Got something out of retailer, in more of an unofficial manner. My actual point was to gain at least some information that would help me to do all I can to prevent such problem in the future. First thing that threw me off a bit was apparently distributor's worry about possible situations with "the customer and his speakers" in future. Second, and more conclusive detail was that since they didn't point out any concrete possible causes, they sort of stated that the cause most likely was cat hair. Ok, fine with me. But with this kind of product shouldn't it be known in advance if these aren't suitable with pets? Especially, shouldn't customer be made aware of such? Anyway, I did call bulls*it on that, but if "official" take on the problem is that, I really didn't want to risk experiencing fading panel-issue again. In conclusion, traded ESL's for more traditional brand of speakers, no more worries. It was fun while it lasted but left bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. And, because of the possible pet issue, can't really recommend this product to anyone with hairy pets. Or hair in general.

I really must mention though, that e-mail conversation with ML when first breakage happened was nothing but helpful, assistive and very caretaking. So, nothing but good things to say about customer care and support when it comes to global area.
 
Stoney, there is no genuine pet issue. I've had both cats and electrostatic speakers of one sort or another for forty years. The only pet problem I had was with a male cat who sprayed my woofers. ESL panels do deteriorate with time, though. My last Aerius panels were good for about a dozen years (and half a dozen cats). I'm now enjoying two cats and my MartinLogan EM-ESLs.
 
Yeah I didn't really believe that pet-issue. But like I said, since I was given no further info on cause but hinted it was pets I kinda lost my faith. Meaning, I was left in assumption that any further damage would not have been covered by warranty, I chose to dump ESL's. I for sure wasn't age-reated issue either, since my pair was just a little over year old.
 

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