Help with Clarity

[MickeyVee]

It's been a while since I've sat down to a good listening session and I thought that tonight was going to be a good night. I've spent a lot of time tweaking the positioning of my Clarity's such that I get decent imaging.
Well, turned on the system tonight and immediately noted that the balance was off with the right speaker being near dead. A close proximity check revealed that yes, I'm getting some sound so the troubleshooting began. Source is Oppo going through a PS Audio DAC into the AVR in bypass mode.

- switched to direct CD, bypassing the DAC, same thing.. tried all other sources.. same thing
- re-seated all cables, same thing
- checked all AVR setting, looked good.. reset AVR to factory settings.. same thing (reloaded settings)
- switched left & right speakers.. issue moved with the speaker
- did a complete power down/unplug on the AVR and speakers and will retry in 24 hours

So far, it seems that one speaker is barely working.. light comes on and I get minimal sound.

Any ideas what I can try next? If it is a dying Clarity, is it worth fixing? (anyone know where in Toronto I can get someone to look at it). A new set is probably not an option right now.

Appreciate any help. Mark.

 

[amey01]

Call ML service. Sounds like it may be a dead and/or dying HV board.

As for Toronto, ahem (we've just been speaking about that).....you may need to go through your distributor and pay three times the price for the replacement part.

 

[MickeyVee]

Thanks Amey01.. called ML support and they're sending me instructions on how to flip the airframes to see if the problem follows the panel or it's the electronics in the base.

We'll see how it goes and what the costs are. Since I have the day off.. going to my local dealer to take a look at Vista & Source.. just a peek & get some pricing for now.

 

[Joey_V]

Thanks Amey01.. called ML support and they're sending me instructions on how to flip the airframes to see if the problem follows the panel or it's the electronics in the base.

We'll see how it goes and what the costs are. Since I have the day off.. going to my local dealer to take a look at Vista & Source.. just a peek & get some pricing for now.

And so it begins.

The upgraditis continues... :bowdown:.

 

[MickeyVee]

OK Joey.. you win..

And so it begins.

The upgraditis continues... :bowdown:.

Working with ML support, we narrowed it down to either the power supply of the crossover so they passed me off to the Canadian distributor. They sent me the Clarity service manual so I'll be taking them apart and sending off the boards.

OK Joey.. you win..

Our regular Saturday morning thing is to have coffee/tea and go through the barrage of flyers we get every weekend. My fiancee is wanting to get another set of sheets for the bed and we came across a flyer with some really nice stuff on sale. I did a paid photo shoot on Thursday night and offered to get them. She said 'no, you're going to need the money for your speakers'.. say what?
Within half an hour I was out the door and came home with a new set of Vista's. (really, I wasn't going to buy them)
Gotta love this woman:bowdown:

I've been running them for about six hours now and not even a hiccup from the Rotel AVR (sold the amp a few months ago.. another story). The Rotel seems to be driving them very nicely.
Everything seems bigger, especially the soundstage.. better bass and a lot more lifelike.. Integration with the Grotto i is even better than with the Clarity's and I haven't even begun to start to tweak.

I'll give them a month or two to break in and then look for something to put on the floor so I can get them on spikes (had the Clarity's spiked and on tiles). Probably some new Signal Cable power cords too.. I'll post an updated picture on my profile later this week.

Joey man, you're clairvoyant..

 

[Joey_V]

I return for a few days and you upgrade after 4+ years with the clarity!

Niice!!!

 

[MickeyVee]

Hey, it's six years withe Clarity's..

Now, what to do sell them as is.. fix it and then sell them or setup as second system in the basement rec room.. move the Rotel to the basement and get an Arcam AVR600.. does anyone have a winning lottery ticket I can have

Oh well, I have a wedding to pay for coming next October.. enough with the upgrades for now. I'll just sit back and enjoy with my fiancee. BTW.. she really likes the Vista's.

 

[Joey_V]

Hey, it's six years withe Clarity's..

Now, what to do sell them as is.. fix it and then sell them or setup as second system in the basement rec room.. move the Rotel to the basement and get an Arcam AVR600.. does anyone have a winning lottery ticket I can have

Oh well, I have a wedding to pay for coming next October.. enough with the upgrades for now. I'll just sit back and enjoy with my fiancee. BTW.. she really likes the Vista's.

Oops, I didn't know it's been 6 years - my memory is beginning to fail me.

And fix them then sell them as is... use the money for more music or on your fiance for Christmas (sounds like she deserves it).

And yes... the wedding gets expensive REAL fast. My wedding was over the top expensive - luckily we had great parents to help us.
:music:

Enjoy the system bud... :rocker:

 

[MickeyVee]

Here They Are..

Finally got around to taking a pic of the system with the Vista's..

Still working the Clarity repair. Have the day off and the service manual so I'll be taking them apart to determine which board to replace.

 

[MickeyVee]

Call ML service. Sounds like it may be a dead and/or dying HV board.

As for Toronto, ahem (we've just been speaking about that).....you may need to go through your distributor and pay three times the price for the replacement part.

After a bunch of emails with the Canadian distributor, it ended up being the power supply board. ($200 Canadian plus taxes & shipping.. not too bad) Finally got it installed and wired correctly tonight. Plurison was great to deal with but I wish there was someone local. Pulled all the boards, shipped them, they figured out it was the power supply board and then had to install and re-wire myself. Took three times to get it right. (my wiring mistakes.. not the board)

Now what to do with them. Borrowed a friends relatively decent Marantz AVR (I thought) but even driving them in 2 channel mode and at moderate volume, the 'Peak' light comes on so the Marantz is a no go. Not willing to spend the $ on the proper electronics so they'll probably end up on CanuckAudioMart (the Canadian equivalent of AudioGon.) BTW.. the ROTEL doesn't even break a sweat with the Clarity's and now the Vista's.

Ended up spiking the Vistas & Grotto & moved the Grotto to the left of the left Vista.. Pretty pleased with the setup and now have enough tight bass without the Grotto in 2 chan.