Loud Humming From Vantage

Your thoughts and positive opinions on how to resolve the following issue would be most appreciated, folks:

Thanks to helpful suggestions of this forum, my lady and I have been enjoying the sound of Martin Logan for the last couple of years.

Last Wednesday, her home (where the aforementioned loudspeakers reside) took a lighting hit during a sudden thunderstorm.

(Like I imagine most of you are doing upon reading the above, I groaned when she told me this)

Bottom line:

The left Vantage...the one that was plugged directly into a wall socket (the other's been connected to a surge protector all this time)...now produces a constant loud hum when powered up. :sad:

We bought the speakers from Tweeter (now defunct) , but upon calling Best Buy's Magnolia store in her area, the young man there suggested that, by noting the name on the speaker's serial number plate, I could call Martin-Logan and speak to the person there that built it .

He said that his past experience with the company, as both consumer himself and as a retailer, has been exceptional.

Well, I won't really know if that's so til Monday (as ML's office hours don't extend to the weekend), but I just wanted to get the forum's input on where we can go with this next:

Is there a fix that can be done from the user's end to eliminate the hum?

Of particular interest would be your thoughts on surge protectors vs. AFFORDABLE power conditioners and their impact on an electrostatic loudspeaker's sound quality.

(Funny how she now's gung-ho about having such in the system: "Pain Is Knowledge", as my old kungfu instructor used to say )

Wishing you all the best,
-Val

It's probably safe to say the internal electronics 'took a hit'. Jim Power and his staff will be able to walk you through the diagnostics and send out the required parts for a DIY fix......good luck and unfortunately....you now have learned !

I suppose you swapped them to check if the hum is from only that outlet?

Our Story So Far...

Just wanted to touch base with you all and bring you up to speed on how things are going thus far:

Tosh, when I was first informed about what was going on with the Vantages, my first thought was to troubleshoot the problem by swapping the amps in the speakers in order to see if the problem "migrated" to the good unit.

As I wanted an authorization from someone at Martin Logan before I ventured into the speaker's innards, I waited til I heard from Melodie Brouhard early Monday morning.

She promptly sent me an illustrated email detailing how remove the amp/backplate.

Upon installing the questionable electronics with the backplate/amp of the known good speaker, the loud humming was gone.

I called Melodie and informed her of this and she set about getting a replacement backplate/amp to me free of charge (!); her only requirement was that I send the fried unit back to her in the box the good was sent in.

What a pleasure to deal with a company that stands behind their product and customers in such a manner!

Barring any unforeseen problems, I should have the Vantages running properly by Friday at the latest.

Dave, Robert, Tosh; thank you all for stepping up with your great suggestions.

Now the search is on the get a good, yet relatively inexpensive surge protector/ac conditioner...

...say, no more than 500 dollars...

...that doesn't limit the dynamics for her system.

I love what I read about those units from Running Springs Audio, but they may well be abit beyond what I can muster up here for now.

Robert: based on your recommendation and the positive reports on their performance, I think I'll root about Agon and see if I can find a previously-owned PS Audio Quintet.

I'd welcome whatever other ac conditioners you good folk can think of that fit my cost/performance parameters .

Thanks,
-Val

A Shunyata Hydra 2 would work on your speakers nicely. $379 from Music Direct, new with warranty.

FYI, good power conditioners aren't cheap. The cheap ones do more harm than good to the sound.

Thanks For the Suggestion, Jeff...

...I'll look up that particular brand and model now; it sounds like a winner for sure!

-Val

Tosh said:

I suppose you swapped them to check if the hum is from only that outlet?

Click to expand...

What Tosh said...Did you swap the speaker power cords to different power outlets? We want to make sure it's not a simple ground loop hum occurring in one speaker due to the power being being supplied. You might be experiencing two different grounding sources. Hopefully it's that and not damage from a power surge of some sort.

Swapping the amps between the speakers would be my last thought and not my first.

Shunyata's are good components, some of their components are also on A'gon.

Happy Campers Once Again

Just wanted to do a final update regarding the speakers in-question...

The replacement amp/backplate arrived fairly late on Friday night by UPS (around 8:30 p.m); as I already had the defective speaker opened and ready, it took me only a few minutes to have the left Vantage back up and running.

I left the squeezebox running on random overnight to ferret out any problems that might rear up, but happily...as of this writing...the matter of the humming loudspeaker is resolved.

Thanks again to everyone here that chimed in with their helpful suggestions.

As most of you know already, Melodie and Jim at Martin Logan are great to work with: while I hope to never need them for anything like this again, it's wonderful to know that such folk are "at your back".

On a final note...

We're gonna go with the Furman Elite 15pfi power conditioner as it seems to give us the best combination of non-sacrificial surge protection and sound quality for the price.

Wishing you all the best,
-Val

Val756 said:

Just wanted to do a final update regarding the speakers in-question...

The replacement amp/backplate arrived fairly late on Friday night by UPS (around 8:30 p.m); as I already had the defective speaker opened and ready, it took me only a few minutes to have the left Vantage back up and running.

I left the squeezebox running on random overnight to ferret out any problems that might rear up, but happily...as of this writing...the matter of the humming loudspeaker is resolved.

Thanks again to everyone here that chimed in with their helpful suggestions.

As most of you know already, Melodie and Jim at Martin Logan are great to work with: while I hope to never need them for anything like this again, it's wonderful to know that such folk are "at your back".

On a final note...

We're gonna go with the Furman Elite 15pfi power conditioner as it seems to give us the best combination of non-sacrificial surge protection and sound quality for the price.

Wishing you all the best,
-Val

Click to expand...

Hola Val...happy listening!
Regards from Costa Rica,
Roberto.

Val, I know your location says Maryland, but did you happen to call the Magnolia in The Woodlands, TX?