Life span panels

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RoboRob

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Limmen, NL
Regular I test my setup with the noise generator of my Sony amplifier (it cycles through all 5 channels enabling to compare the colour of the noise of all speakers). All channels are then driven by the Sony amplifier to eliminate different characteristics of the separate amplifiers (which I normally use).

Both my Feb. 2001 Aeriuses were loosing their brilliance in 2005. I was pretty disappointed about this and thought the life span of 4 years wasn't very impressive. I decided to replace both panels which solved the problem.

In 2008 my Jan. 2001 Cinema had the same problem which I got fixed as well by replacing the panel.

Lately one of my speakers of my second, rear pair of Aeriuses also lost its brilliance (March 1997 with original foils).

Am I unrealistic to think the life span of the panels is disappointingly low or is something else going on here???

:(

regards,
Rob
 
No smoking family (not allowed inside for visitors), stone floors (less dust) and not humit climate...

greetings,
Rob.
 
What about greasy cooking fats?

Assuming not, then that is the obvious stuff.

Do you vacuum them regularly? Say every month or two?
 
To be honest, I never had any of my speakers vacuumed before. I wasn't aware this is ever needed.

I don't consider cooking fats the suspect since we have a separate kitchen with a kitchen ventilation system.

greetings,
Rob.
 
With Logans its a crap shoot, Its the price you pay for their sound. I have had them last as long as 15 years and some went bad at 6 months. The newer bonding process does improve the life span. However something in your environment is causing the faster deterioration:confused: I have a fire place that caused one to cling on to the smoke. Humidity is a huge killer too. Dampness is the enemy of coated Mylar. I use a feather duster daily to really wisk away any clinging dust !. Dust it self is a killer !
 
To be honest, I never had any of my speakers vacuumed before. I wasn't aware this is ever needed.

Rob.

Yes - vacuuming is necessary!

I'd even go as far as to say your panels may not be shot - they are probably (maybe?) just in need of a good vacuum.

First, let's understand exactly what is going on here. It is environmental pollutants that dictate panel life. The mylar needs to be light to respond to the music signal. Secondly, it is coated and must conduct/hold charge. If the panel is coated in pollutants (dust, smoke, cooking fats, etc.) then it becomes heavy and non-conductive. Therefore it does not respond to the music signal. The HF goes first.

Now - for you, we've ruled out smoke and cooking fats. That leaves dust. Dust is everywhere and is going to get to your panels one way or the other. Luckily (unlike smoke or cooking fats) it is not sticky and easily removed (in the absence of humidity at least - humidity makes dust stick, hence some people will say humidity is bad too, but only with the presence of dust).

This is why vacuuming is necessary - it keeps the dust off the panels. If dust is allowed to build up it naturally becomes harder to remove, hence the recommendation that the panels are vacuumed once every month or so. I do mine every few months, but I do keep them covered when not in use. Even if dust has built up, it can still be vacuumed off and give a good performance improvement, but overall the life of the panels will decrease.

Good luck........
 
My Aerius speakers required the panels (and one woofer) to be replaced after a couple of years. That was 15 years ago, still going strong.
 
How much sunlight do they receive ? this could seriously degrade the mylar in my opinion UV destroys just about everything.
 
How much sunlight do they receive ? this could seriously degrade the mylar in my opinion UV destroys just about everything.

They did get some sunlight in the past but not significantly. They have been standing in three positions since I moved once and I have rebuilt this house cause the speakers to move to a different location. Altogether the MLs did get very little sunlight but not nothing...
 
Well, yesterday I vacuumed all 5 ML speakers (after unplug them for 24 hours) to see if this makes any difference. To be honest: it didn't do a thing to any of the speakers sound wise.

Still the left right speaker sounds significantly different when the noise test is done. I've also swapped speakers to rule out differences in channels/cabling but no differences in behaviour where encountered...

I'm afraid I will be forced to take the speaker (maybe together with it partner rear speaker) to the Dutch ML dealer in Utrecht to get it/them refoiled... :-(
 
Well, yesterday I vacuumed all 5 ML speakers (after unplug them for 24 hours) to see if this makes any difference. To be honest: it didn't do a thing to any of the speakers sound wise.

Still the left right speaker sounds significantly different when the noise test is done. I've also swapped speakers to rule out differences in channels/cabling but no differences in behaviour where encountered...

I'm afraid I will be forced to take the speaker (maybe together with it partner rear speaker) to the Dutch ML dealer in Utrecht to get it/them refoiled... :-(

How did you vacuum them? Did you cup your hands over the nozzle and let a lot of pressure build up over the panel?
 
... and did you let the speaker discharge by unplugging them for a good length of time?
 
I hovered them after having the 24h unplugged. I must admit I didn't cup my hands but I had the impression it did some serious sucking on them...

greetings,
Rob.
 
I hovered them after having the 24h unplugged. I must admit I didn't cup my hands but I had the impression it did some serious sucking on them...

greetings,
Rob.

Hola RoboRob...why don't you wash them? Visit our tweak forum, and believe me...you will get back your great ML sound. Just take apart the panels from your Aerius, take them to your bathroom, and with the aid of a hose, apply regular running watter at normal temperature, from left to right and from top to bottom, at the front stat panel only...it is not necessary to do it at the back of them... let them get dry for two days, put them back on, and listen the beloved sound from your Aerius...hope this can help!!!...happy listening,
Roberto.
 
Hola RoboRob...why don't you wash them? Visit our tweak forum, and believe me...you will get back your great ML sound. Just take apart the panels from your Aerius, take them to your bathroom, and with the aid of a hose, apply regular running watter at normal temperature, from left to right and from top to bottom, at the front stat panel only...it is not necessary to do it at the back of them... let them get dry for two days, put them back on, and listen the beloved sound from your Aerius...hope this can help!!!...happy listening,
Roberto.

I'm a bit scared taking them apart but it is an option to do this... I just didn't dare to perform this tasks yet...
 
Exchange the leads to the speakers, left for right and so on, just to double check if it is the amp or the speaker giving the trouble.
 
Exchange the leads to the speakers, left for right and so on, just to double check if it is the amp or the speaker giving the trouble.

I did this also tried another amplifier to double check but it didn't help :(. I'll probably do the wash treatment if nothing else helps as a last resort before deciding to swap the panels...

regards,
rob.
 
Hola RoboRob...why don't you wash them?

Ok, I did the wash trick last sunday on the bad panel (and vacuumed/cleaned the rest of speaker while I got it apart). Unfortunately it didn't help a bit. Next step is arranging a multimeter able to handle 10kV and measure if the high voltage circuit is still working...

regards,
Rob.
 

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