Recent content by j beede

Have you sent an e-mail to ML customer service? I have found them to be quite responsive to inquiries. I am sure that they have been asked this question before. The companies that require factory packing for items sent in for update/service often sell packaging. This may not bode well for you...

As someone who has shipped large/heavy items via motor freight I can say that the likelihood that an item is packed (meticulously or otherwise) once at the factory and unloaded just once when it arrives at its destination is very small indeed. In my experience freight is loaded and unloaded...

I wonder how ML get their speakers from Lawrence to their dealers? Cardboard boxes.

I wonder what assumptions you are making with respect to cost of sales and margin for a set of CLS replacement panels for $1500. I would have guessed that ML does a pretty healthy replacement panel business. Most ML owners seem to have replaced their panels or plan to do so. Assuming that the...

A couple comments: The diaphragm is coated or processed to slightly reduce its resistivity. I would not describe film with sheet resistivity of megohms per square as "conductive". When I have treated diaphragms with graphite I measured the resistance by setting two pennies on the treated...

The materials are easily available worldwide and very inexpensive. The problem is properly tensioning the new diaphragms. On a flat ESL tensioning is less complicated and can be successfully done by the DIY'er. The segmentation of the ML panel is the showstopper for me. I don't really care about...

The factory packing for the CLS is simple and effective--foam end caps that hold both screens that then slides into a cardboard box. That box then slides into a cardboard sleeve. No wood, no crates. I used motor freight to ship them ~1500 miles once and antoher time they were moved by Mayflower...

I have continuously owned ESLs of one sort or other since 1976. I have had two panel failures in that period of time. One failure was due to leakage--a dc path that resulted in the bias on the diaphragm bleeding away. The other failure was stator separation due to failed two-sided tape...

Will you do the installation and check out? The $1200 should get you "like new" speakers including an electrical check out that shows the new pieces and crossover are performing as new. Do you have dealer that can do this? I have been struggling with a similar decision... My panels have...

I can feel your pain... For some reason ML has set their pricing on replacement components at a level that makes even loyal customers hesitate. It almost seems like they are charging retail prices for replacement components that we have already paid for once. I would like to see ML adopt a...

I think we sometimes discount how a system makes us feel... Playing the same reference tracks over and over while moving speakers a mm at a time is one way this hobby manifests itself. Some focus on that aspect of audio. In this case the music can become secondary and is just one of several...

Keep us posted on what happens with the 3rd party rebuilder that you mentioned. $275 to rebuild a pair of ML panels sounds like a win-win for you and the rebuilder--assuming he can properly re-tension the diaphragms and provide some sort of performance data to show that the panels are matched to...

I attended the recent California Audio Show and was amazed at how poor the sound was--in general. I had not attended an audio show before, but have read reports from shows in the usual magazines. Now I understand why you often read in these report "Brand X was on display but was not being...

Good point. If I owned CLX I would certainly keep an eye out for wrinkles or failing tape around the time that the warranty expires. 32% of MSRP for a replacement set of panels would be a bitter pill to swallow! van den Hul gladly reuses my EMT body to remanufacture and update my pickup. I'd...

I appreciate your thoughtful comments. My thoughts: Though I referred to my CLS as "antiques" I meant that purely from an age point of view--not to suggest that they have nostalgic value. Even though I have owned them for many years I view them as music "appliances". In my case the appliance is...