Repanelling Vistas

Some of you may remember the issue I had with the panels on my Vistas - there was a small crinkle in the membrane.

THREAD: http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5789&highlight=membrane

Well, living in Queensland, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest ML dealer, I elected to replace these myself.

The panels came, I read the instructions thouroughly, and promptly got a bit intimidated. Well, the area of the dead panel producing no sound kept getting bigger until I finally HAD to do this.

It wasn't so bad.

The enclosed instructions are great - my best advice is to read them well, then again (and again) and become so familiar with these that you won't need them at all during the process. Some of the terminology needs familiarisation!

First, I had the new panels delivered to my office. The pair come in a single package, and fit nicely into even small cars. Pictured here with my Citroën in which they travelled home.

Unboxing

Unboxing and the instructions...

Preparation of the work surface

I decided to use my highly precious antique dining table! I knew it was stupid at the time, but I figured if I wasn't going to damage the table, I probably wouldn't damage the 'Logans either.

Good news: Neither were damaged in the making of this!

ML recommended covering this surface with blankets, but since I didn't want dust embedded deep in my new panels before even one minute of listening, I opted for a padded plastic table protector. Luckily, it afforded more protection to the table as well!

GA Administered - starting surgery

GA Administered - starting surgery on the first 'Logan.

Problems?

Know your instructions and follow them EXACTLY and you'll have very little issues. My first "Oh 5hit":

Getting the wiring back into place. Neither my wife nor I could work it out. We had to dismantle the second 'Logan to see how it was done.

Second "Oh 5hit":

Getting the completed panel structure in place. Damn that is difficult. Something I believe ML need to look at. Either that, or give clearer instructions on how to do it. It DOES NOT simply slide back in place!!!!!

One repanelled 'Logan

One repanelled 'Logan.......

Music again...

Two repanelled 'Logans.......

Happy day!

...and now I know what un-run in panels sound like. Since I got the ability to hear a night-day contrast in exactly the same speaker / exactly the same room / exactly the same upstream equipment!

It's more stark than I had expected - sort of "honky" and "shouty" - a bit like a bad PA system.

The highs are rolled off, but the lower highs are over-exaggerated. No extension, very harsh, no decay on the upper end.

I can't wait to get these babies run in!

Mind you, there has been a huge (positive) difference in only 24 hours......

As someone who also recently replaced panels, all I can say is this:

Every night this week put on some tunage, turn it up, grab a brewski or two from the fridge, open a window and go chill on your porch/patio/deck.... they will break in quickly and you'll get to head-bang to your favorite tunes for the next five days without the hassle or frustration of critically listening to crispy, hard-sounding new panels.

Evaluate them next Sunday morning. My prediction: All will be right again...

~VDR

Great idea for break in - at least you can still enjoy them while breaking them in!

Problem is, it's winter in Australia. It got down to 14C outside last night! Tonight might be a little better and more conducive to sitting outside! Hope so, 'cos that sounds good.

Great pics.. thanks for sharing!!

Well I spent 6 years in Hawaii, 4 years in Florida before that, and 4 years in San Diego for university before that... So I can under stand your sentiments about going outside when it's only 14C (~58F); but please understand that many of us currently live in climates where that is a normal summertime night temperature. For the last several years I have been here in Michigan...colder than a witches' t*t in the winter.

How does -20C with a wicked, vile, icy wind sound to you ??? Like hell, I imagine...

SO COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, my friend... LOL !!!!

~VDR

VanDaRo said:

Well I spent 6 years in Hawaii, 4 years in Florida before that, and 4 years in San Diego for university before that... So I can under stand your sentiments about going outside when it's only 14C (~58F); but please understand that many of us currently live in climates where that is a normal summertime night temperature. For the last several years I have been here in Michigan...colder than a witches' t*t in the winter.

How does -20C with a wicked, vile, icy wind sound to you ??? Like hell, I imagine...

SO COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, my friend... LOL !!!!

~VDR

Click to expand...

HAHA - "Colder than a witches t*t" - love it!

Well, I did as you said and it was very nice! Dinner was cheese and a glass (or three) of Scarpantoni McLaren Vale Shiraz. Sat outside, lovely!

-20C sounds unimaginable - but I do believe people acclimatise very quickly - I've got friends who have recently moved to Canberra (it gets down to about -5C there sometimes) and they're walking around in winter on about 15C days with t-shirts and shorts. They've only been there for about two years!

Here in my part of Sweden we usually get -20C or even -25C during winter, sometimes its below -30C but thats becoming more and more rare luckily so "only" 14C at night sounds like a dream indeed
Spring is nearing thou, happy days!

so besides the temp variations we all have ...
how did you make out w/ the break in process Amey ? was it complete in a week or two or more ?
after the dust settled was it all worthwhile ...what changes did you notice ?
I will start replacing my SL3 panels in the next week and wonder how long before they are 'listenable '?
thanks bernard

bernard991 said:

so besides the temp variations we all have ...
how did you make out w/ the break in process Amey ? was it complete in a week or two or more ?
after the dust settled was it all worthwhile ...what changes did you notice ?
I will start replacing my SL3 panels in the next week and wonder how long before they are 'listenable '?
thanks bernard

Click to expand...

The break-in process was done in a few weeks - say about a month - of regular listening. I never left them running while I was out. I just listened to them and enjoyed the continual improvement.

As for differences, I only did this because of a crinkle in the panel. There was nothing wrong with the old panels in terms of sound quality so I wouldn't say there is any difference now. It's just that now I don't have defective panels in my speakers that could cause problems in the future.

Amey your comments are interesting ..one of my own panels is also crinkled , they are 14 yrs old now I am the 3rd of 4th owner , not sure what they were exposed to in terms of pollutants , yet the sound seems still to be good
however the newer panels are supposedly higher technology w/clear spars so I am hopeful that there will be some sort of sonic improvement

will report my findings after the procedure is done ....actually I will do a bit of a makeover reseating the woofers w/ brass screws as well as sound deadening the inside of the woofer chamber and new accousti fill
last fall I rebuilt the crossovers and rewired .

cheers Bernard

bernard991 said:

Amey your comments are interesting ..one of my own panels is also crinkled , they are 14 yrs old now I am the 3rd of 4th owner , not sure what they were exposed to in terms of pollutants , yet the sound seems still to be good
however the newer panels are supposedly higher technology w/clear spars so I am hopeful that there will be some sort of sonic improvement

will report my findings after the procedure is done ....actually I will do a bit of a makeover reseating the woofers w/ brass screws as well as sound deadening the inside of the woofer chamber and new accousti fill
last fall I rebuilt the crossovers and rewired .

cheers Bernard

Click to expand...

They might not even need replacing, however after 14 years you'll probably notice at least some postitive improvement!

If the crinkle is all you're worried about then it can be fixed from searching threads on the subject. It's just that mine were under warranty, so why not?

I am hoping for some sonic improvement for sure and the 'fixes' that are listed for crinkle \ wrinkle removal ....like the hair dryer trick don't work
JP suggested get a new pr ..'its time'
I tend to agree and after all the other work I've done I'd be crazy to cheap out
now that 'I'm all in '.
cheers