Giving Martin Logan a try. Hopefully a great Craigslist deal. If not I'll resell.

I just picked up a pair of Martin Logan Aerius i off of Craigslist for what I hope was a good price. They seem to sound great though they have clearly not been taken care of very well and I haven't set them up for optimal critical listening. They reek of cigarette smoke, missing two binding post nuts, have several scuffs from being moved, and need to be cleaned. Hopefully this was a good investment. I'll disassemble and clean the panels as soon as I can.

One question I had was with these having a single pair of positive and negative binding posts. Even though the sticker and manual refer to the possibility of bi-amping these. Are there multiple revisions of this with and without the ability to bi-amp? I have no interest in bi-amping just want to know what I have here. These were manufactured in 1997.

While I have them disassembled I may sand down the paint on the black trim pieces and refinish to match the room. Haven't decided yet.

tsanguine.

Anybody know the cost to replace these panels if they have issues? If they are $2000 I won't be keeping these no matter how nice they sound. I'll clean them up and resell them. I have no problem re-foaming a foam surround for a few bucks but paying the same cost as a retail to repair would make more sense to invest in another speaker. Also... does anyone have more information regarding the upgrade program? Does it apply to second owners? What does it entail?

tsanguine.

tsanguine said:

I just picked up a pair of Martin Logan Aerius i off of Craigslist for what I hope was a good price. They seem to sound great though they have clearly not been taken care of very well and I haven't set them up for optimal critical listening. They reek of cigarette smoke, missing two binding post nuts, have several scuffs from being moved, and need to be cleaned. Hopefully this was a good investment. I'll disassemble and clean the panels as soon as I can.

One question I had was with these having a single pair of positive and negative binding posts. Even though the sticker and manual refer to the possibility of bi-amping these. Are there multiple revisions of this with and without the ability to bi-amp? I have no interest in bi-amping just want to know what I have here. These were manufactured in 1997.

While I have them disassembled I may sand down the paint on the black trim pieces and refinish to match the room. Haven't decided yet.

tsanguine.

Click to expand...

They did come in two versions, single and bi-wire.

As far as panel replacements, they are pretty steep. I don't know exact number but over 1K I believe. Not really worth replacing.

If you got them for less than $600 you did pretty good. If not......

I paid $200 for the speakers and $50 for a Pioneer Elite VTS-23TXH with missing remote and calibration mic. Once I have these setup I will power them with a Hafler P1000 professional amp until I can service my Yamaha CR2020.

if they clean up and sound good ...........ride that horse !

Took the panel off one speaker. Struggled for quite a while trying to tap the trim up until I found out after 1996 the trim needed to be tapped down. Lots of dust. Wiped everything down and will shower it tonight. Had several holes in the Mylar but remember reading that it shouldn't impact the sound according to MartinLogan.

"If the diaphragm was punctured with a pencil, stick, or similar item, how extensive would the damage to the speaker be? Our research department has literally punctured hundreds of holes in a diaphragm, neither affecting the quality of the sound nor causing the diaphragm to rip. However, you will be able to see the actual puncture and it can be a physical nuisance. If this is the case, replacing the electrostatic transducer will be the only solution."

Also looks like there is visible grime as if someone spilled soda or something in a couple spots. Will see how the shower cleans it then use some cue tips if needed. Anybody have any recomendations on solution to use to clean the Mylar and the cabinet? Both for cleaning and hopefully breaking down the cigarette smoke smell.

Welcome to MLO forums tsanguine! I agree with Dave, a good clean might just be all they need...$200 is an awesome price for what you will hear from these...it just sickens me to hear what some Logan's have been abused with, smoke of any kind...Huge no-no! Punctures not so much as you know. Is the woofer surrounds separating from the drivers? Easy fix for about $200+ Dunno, contact ML (best customer service out there, you will be impressed, they walk you through everything and if it's trashed, they will tell you).

While the panels are out for the showering...posted as a sticky on the forum, very easy to do, you seem capable of the task, wipe the cabs with a warm, light dish soap and warm water, have a friend wipe immediately after with a warm wet towel, then you follow with a dry towel...you may have to do the dry twice. Refinishing is out of my expertise, so you have to research that aspect. If the woofs are fine, you just may become smitten and a new member of the Smitten by ML!! Good Luck, ask as many Q's as you like, lots of support here and from the company! Craig

That should cure the cigarette smell...then put on Patsy Cline or k. d. lang ~ 'Two cigarettes in and ashtray' and get blown away!!

Surrounds appear to be in great shape. I've got one fully cleaned now and it sounds great. I've got the second speaker disassembled and will hope to finish cleaning it tonight. I need to call the service department to inquire about binding post replacement nuts. Right now I just have regular hardware nuts that work fine. I won't bother wiring up spades until I'm sure I intend to keep the speakers.

My biggest trepidation for keeping these is the fact that at some point the panels will need to be replaced and it is cost prohibitive to do that. I have no problem replacing a foam surround but that's something that I can do and is fairly inexpensive. If it costs upwards of $2000 to replace the panels I'd rather spend that on something else. I'm sure there are a number of ML speakers that have gone to the dump because the cost to fix is too high. That makes me want to cry but I understand.

Not sure my wife is a fan of the modern design either which is a surprise. I guess she did grow up with a pair of Klipsh Heresies in the living room.

as you found out, aerius i panels are tapped downwards.

i asked about replacement panels and was quoted £ 600 for a pair, less than i thought,, dunno what that is in $.

at present mine are drying after a wash, the foam strips separated and i expect yours may do too; with hindsight maybe clamping the sides would have prevented water getting to the strips?

After reading the description of the condition, I am also shocked that anyone could be so careless with equipment. It sounds like some punk teenage doper had a bong party and forgot to clean up.

But... for $200, it's would that a shot. As I recall of a pair of Aerius I owned shortly back on '07-ish, building a new cabinet shouldn't be too difficult, and the anesthetics could even be improved upon.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

tsanguine, if you decide to keep them and wish to give them a top up, give Russ Knotts, at Just Real Music a call.

He applied his magic on a pair of my CLSes.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?14297-Old-panels-now-performing-as-new-again