Aerius sound flat

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Phil M

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Hey everyone, I have a pair of Ascent-i and a pair of Aerius. The panels of the Aerius sound flat and almost muffled. Have any of you guys experienced this? I fear they are going bad.
 
Hola Phil,

Yes, that's a bad sign. When the stat panels start to become flat and muffled, you must, before changing the panels, to do the washing procedure. Many of us, users of ML speakers, have done this with good results. If after the washing procedure are still flat, it is time to think is new panels. Your Aerius is a model at the beginning of the 90s, they are going to get 30 years old. Also, they are a wonderful sounding speakers. The only problem that I see, is the price for a new fresh stat panels. Keep in mind that if you decide to go for a fresh pair of stat panels, they come with a five year factory warranty.

I am sorry to be the one telling you a bad news. Here you can find how to do the stat panels washing procedure: Martin Logan Shower Cleaning PDF

Happy listening!
 
Hola Phil,

Yes, that's a bad sign. When the stat panels start to become flat and muffled, you must, before changing the panels, to do the washing procedure. Many of us, users of ML speakers, have done this with good results. If after the washing procedure are still flat, it is time to think is new panels. Your Aerius is a model at the beginning of the 90s, they are going to get 30 years old. Also, they are a wonderful sounding speakers. The only problem that I see, is the price for a new fresh stat panels. Keep in mind that if you decide to go for a fresh pair of stat panels, they come with a five year factory warranty.

I am sorry to be the one telling you a bad news. Here you can find how to do the stat panels washing procedure: Martin Logan Shower Cleaning PDF

Happy listening!
Thank you Roberto!
 
Ok everyone, I took the panels outside and washed them off with the water hose. The difference is amazing! They sound like new. Thanks again Roberto :)
 
Really glad it worked for you too. I did the same a month or two ago and the speakers were transformed... and are still working brilliantly. Perhaps the only thing I'm currently unsure of is whether one speaker is slightly louder than the other. My suspicion is it might be. I can counter for that with the balance control on my amp, but does anyone know is there is any way of actually measuring the difference of the units with a test meter? With a conventional driver you can measure the ohms... does this work for a static panel too?
 
...but does anyone know is there is any way of actually measuring the difference of the units with a test meter? With a conventional driver you can measure the ohms... does this work for a static panel too?

You can download a sound level meter app. I use "Decibel Meter" on my iPhone which is free.

Ideally you want to play pink noise on your speakers, which you can easily do if you can play YouTube or some other source on your system.
 
You can download a sound level meter app. I use "Decibel Meter" on my iPhone which is free.

Ideally you want to play pink noise on your speakers, which you can easily do if you can play YouTube or some other source on your system.
By pink noise, do you mean a test tone? I have an app on my phone for that, which I can run through the speakers. Will give it a go. Cheers
 
Would a db meter work?
The difference is very subtle, to the point where sometimes it doesn't appear obvious at all, but on some tracks seems more apparent. It may be too subtle for a phone app, but will report back. Cheers
 
It is probably your source material and how it was recorded and mixed. If you can't hear any difference with a test tone and DB meter then you have them equalized as far as volume goes. The next and uncontrollable issue is the recordings you are listening to. I find 70% of recordings I have ever listened to to be mixed at a "fair" level, only about 15% at the great level and 15% is ever mixed and recorded at the freaking awesome level.
 
It is probably your source material and how it was recorded and mixed. If you can't hear any difference with a test tone and DB meter then you have them equalized as far as volume goes. The next and uncontrollable issue is the recordings you are listening to. I find 70% of recordings I have ever listened to to be mixed at a "fair" level, only about 15% at the great level and 15% is ever mixed and recorded at the freaking awesome level.
You could well be right. Although I have swapped the speakers from left to right and, frustratingly, I think the volume disparity has moved with them. But I still completely agree that the recordings can vary and there are also moments when I suspect it is more pronounced with vinyl than CD... perhaps pointing towards the cartridge and arm set-up. So a test tone through a different aux input should point me in the right direction as I've previously checked the outputs from the power amp and that's certainly matched across the channels. The search continues!
 
I usually put something monophonic on. With the imaging of the MLs the image should be rock solid in the center. If not then you might have a balance issue.
 
By pink noise, do you mean a test tone? I have an app on my phone for that, which I can run through the speakers. Will give it a go. Cheers

Ideally you want to use pink noise instead of test tone to cover all frequencies instead of just one specific frequency.

You'll need 2 devices - one to play the test audio through the speakers, and another to run the sound level meter app.
 
It's so much easier just to use your EARS! Here's what you do..... download a test tone app to your phone. One that has pink or white noise. Put both speakers SIDE by SIDE. Plug your phone into your preamp and use the balance control to switch between speakers. I've got a test CD with noise tracks on it too. Putting the speakers right next to each other is very important because imbalances in your room (and your hearing) can mask the differences in the speakers. You are listening not just for a level shift, but tonal shifts too. The levels could be similar down low, but one panel might be more rolled off on top than the other.
Secret trick if you don't have a balance control: Plug left into one preamp input, and right into the adjacent input, and just switch between the 2 inputs to toggle left and right noise!
 

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