help/advice

[ghouluk]

Hi folks,

I'm new here, and as well as saying hello to everyone, i was hoping someone could help me out with some advice (yup - just like everyone else in life i want something ;> )

my main audio system has gradually degraded over the past 4 or 5 weeks to the point on Friday that i decided i had to do something about it. The basic problem is extremely muddy base, distortion everywhere and a frankly terrible sound. I had a friend over from france who is an audiophile, and i was embarrassed into finally starting to look at the problems. Much swapping of components, cables and finally (when all else failed) speakers occurred.

i have a pair of aerius as the original speakers, they are pretty old (i've owned them for 8 years, and wasn't the first owner) but i've always loved the sounds they make, and despite upgrading and/or changing virtually every single component or cables - i've kept them and been happy.

As the biggest (if not the heaviest) part of the system, i swapped them out last ... and guess what - replacing them with the kef Q series i have upstairs (which usually sound not too great) fixed the problems (though created a few new ones of course) as part of the swapout/testing procedure, i fed them signal while they weren't powered up - and discovered they sound almost exactly the same with the power switched off as on - does this mean the panels aren't running and i'm just getting the sound of the bottom speaker? it sounds as though it is coming from the panels, but i guess this could be my bad ears.

first question is - anyone got any ideas on what i could and should try, my soldering/electrical skills are good to average, but i'm also happy to pay to get them fixed, as i'm guessing a service would do them good as well - i'm based in the UK, and not sure of the logistics of servicing and repairing older speakers like these - but i've picked that one up with ML already. If however anyone has any tips/tricks that might be a good place to start, i'd appreciate it.

second question is - realistically how much should i be willing to spend shipping/servicing/repairing them, i know thats a tough question, but while i've always been very happy with them, i've never really looked at speakers for a long time, and the idea of being without them for a signifficant time makes me wonder about the benefits of replacing them.

all thoughts/comments gratefully appreciated

cheers


Rob

 

[DavidG]

Cleaning. . .

Hi Rob,

The first question is: how often do you vacuum your panels? If never / not in the last five years, that's a good place to start. If this yields some improvement, but still isn't perfect then it's time to think about washing the panels (see other threads on this subject elsewhere in the forums).

If that still doesn't work and your panels are still dead, then it's either down to both panels being knackered, or two sets of dead electronics in the speakers themselves. The good news is that replacement panels aren't particularly expensive.

All of which reminds me, my panels are due for a good vacuuming, as it's been at least six months now!

Cheers,

David

 

[edwinr]

My ML manual suggests vacuuming every 6 months or so. The problem as described seems to point to dirty panels. Now this washing business sound interesting. I'll find the thread and have a read.

 

[roberto]

Hi folks,

I'm new here, and as well as saying hello to everyone, i was hoping someone could help me out with some advice (yup - just like everyone else in life i want something ;> )

my main audio system has gradually degraded over the past 4 or 5 weeks to the point on Friday that i decided i had to do something about it. The basic problem is extremely muddy base, distortion everywhere and a frankly terrible sound. I had a friend over from france who is an audiophile, and i was embarrassed into finally starting to look at the problems. Much swapping of components, cables and finally (when all else failed) speakers occurred.

i have a pair of aerius as the original speakers, they are pretty old (i've owned them for 8 years, and wasn't the first owner) but i've always loved the sounds they make, and despite upgrading and/or changing virtually every single component or cables - i've kept them and been happy.

As the biggest (if not the heaviest) part of the system, i swapped them out last ... and guess what - replacing them with the kef Q series i have upstairs (which usually sound not too great) fixed the problems (though created a few new ones of course) as part of the swapout/testing procedure, i fed them signal while they weren't powered up - and discovered they sound almost exactly the same with the power switched off as on - does this mean the panels aren't running and i'm just getting the sound of the bottom speaker? it sounds as though it is coming from the panels, but i guess this could be my bad ears.

first question is - anyone got any ideas on what i could and should try, my soldering/electrical skills are good to average, but i'm also happy to pay to get them fixed, as i'm guessing a service would do them good as well - i'm based in the UK, and not sure of the logistics of servicing and repairing older speakers like these - but i've picked that one up with ML already. If however anyone has any tips/tricks that might be a good place to start, i'd appreciate it.

second question is - realistically how much should i be willing to spend shipping/servicing/repairing them, i know thats a tough question, but while i've always been very happy with them, i've never really looked at speakers for a long time, and the idea of being without them for a signifficant time makes me wonder about the benefits of replacing them.

all thoughts/comments gratefully appreciated

cheers


Rob

hola rob. welcome. first of all ml does not produce distortion. the distortion is coming from your amplifier. when you have a bad panel, could be just part of it that does not sound, or all the panel. this could be 1) the speaker is not getting any a.c. 2) bad power supply at the inside of the speaker 3) bad panels. most ml has a led that turns on when the power supply starts to work. check the sound from left to right and from top to bottom. if you find that some parts are not working, then you need new panels. you can feed a pink noise for testing. pink noise has the whole audio bandwith, if you don´t a pink noise generator, then the noise from a non tunned fm broadcast signal you can use as well. all the panel surface has to produce sound at both speakers. this is the best way to tell if you have them running as they should. sometimes, when you use a different speaker for testing distortion, the sensitiviy of the other speakers could make a confusion, due that the power amplifier could drive then well and when you switch or swap to ml, then the distortion begins and we think that the speakers are the one that are not working right. well, this is wrong! to drive ml is not an easy task, and when you are driving them with a bad power amp, then you get the distortion because of the difficult load...hope this can help. happy listening,
pura vida,
roberto.

 

[ghouluk]

Hi folks,

firstly thanks for the advice and help so far - i powered down the speakers this morning and figured that I'll vaccumn them a few time over the next 48 hours and see how it goes.

i'll do some more tests following this, but i'm struggling with it not being the speakers as i've changed out every component adn every cable in the course of testing - my usual main power amp is a meridian 559, which has been happily driing the ML for 3 to 4 years, and i swapped out to a pair of 103's that had been doing the full time driving job prior to the power amp upgrade - maybe its my description thats at fault - sorry if so.

I can't see any LEDs inside the speakers, but i don't recall ever seeing them before - maybe its time to get a little braver and pull stuff apart if the cleaning job doesn't fix them.

cheers

Rob

 

[DavidG]

559!

Hi again,

Just be careful with that 559 - it is more than powerful enough to blow your MLs to pieces! I run a 557 and have to be careful not to drive them too hard!

Cheers,

David

 

[jfm]

Hey, cool, fellow Meridian amp users. I use a 558, biamping my Aeons. How would you guys characterize the Meridian amp sound?

ghouluk, good luck on solving your problem.

 

[ghouluk]

heh, one day we will run the universe

its interesting (at least to me ;>) but meridian amps have a fairly unique sound - my spare power amps are 103's and 555's. I fell in love with meridian when i was 12 years old, and have gradually built and upgraded my system from the first 506 i owned.

very detailed, very exact and very precise, the 559 is a little less warm (don't you love ambiguous subjective terms) than either the 555 or the 103, but if you get something fast moving with a lot of instruments, or with very tight rhythm i just love it, especially in conjunction with the ML's.

ok so my panels are improved a little, but i think its time to replace them, i've been impressed with the contact back from ML so far - replied within 30 minutes of the start of US day with details of the uk disti, and a reccomendation for upgrading the power supplies of my aerius.

thats what i love about hi end hi-fi - almost always there is a possibility to repair rather than replace.

thanks for all the help and advice guys, i'll keep you posted

cheers

Rob

 

[Webinattor]

I believe the original Aerius did not have the LED's you mention. They did incorporate the LED which lights up when the speakers are powered on and are receiving an audio signal with the "I" version. Since you mentioned you had the Aerius (without the I) you wouldn't see the LEDs.

Vacuum well and long after you let the speakers sit overnight, with the power cable unplugged.

 

[DavidG]

Neutral. . .

Hey, cool, fellow Meridian amp users. I use a 558, biamping my Aeons. How would you guys characterize the Meridian amp sound?

ghouluk, good luck on solving your problem.

Meridian amps are - completely neutral sounding (excluding the new G-series). The older ranges 200, 500, 600 are one of the most neutral solid states I've heard. What goes in just comes out louder with very minimal colouration. That's one of the reasons why I love them, they don't add to or subtract from the source, just make it louder.

Partner this with one of their better disc spinners (588 / 508.24 or 808) and you've got a world class combination for reasonable money.

Personally, I think they lost something with the G-series amps. This range doesn't have the current delivery of the older amps and has a definite 'bright' sound that I'm not such a big fan of!

Cheers,

David

 

[ghouluk]

Meridian amps are - completely neutral sounding (excluding the new G-series). The older ranges 200, 500, 600 are one of the most neutral solid states I've heard. What goes in just comes out louder with very minimal colouration. That's one of the reasons why I love them, they don't add to or subtract from the source, just make it louder.

Partner this with one of their better disc spinners (588 / 508.24 or 808) and you've got a world class combination for reasonable money.

Personally, I think they lost something with the G-series amps. This range doesn't have the current delivery of the older amps and has a definite 'bright' sound that I'm not such a big fan of!

Cheers,

David

interesting that you say that - i swapped out my 501/555 combinations for g series after being very impressed with the G08 compare to the 508 i ran previously, and i really couldn't get on with the G series (G02 pre and G57 power) - i nearly returned the whole lot in disgust, but a friend loaned me a 559 - and i ended up buying that and returning the G57.

sounds lovely (well it did before the speakers went kaput)

aerius are in for new power supplies (apparently mine are teh super old old ones) and replacement panels.

something i was amazed at though - when i took the speakers into the Disti for the repairs (no boxes, so had to baby them in myself wrapped in duvets ) i filled in all the forms, etc etc - and they said "thanks" i said "can i have a reciept" they said "we don't give reciepts".....eerrrrrrrmmmmm,, now eventually i managed to get a hand written reciept from them (with the serial numbers written on it at my request) after explaining my reasons (could go bust, my speakers could be stolen, lost, etc etc) but they insisted the details were "in the computer"

they weren't malicious or unpleasant in any way - they just seemed generally amazed that i'd want a reciept.

my question to you guys - is this normal for hifi repairers/dealers - this seems fundamental to me for anything, let alone an expensive piece of kit liek this.

cheers for all the help folks

Rob

 

[roberto]

interesting that you say that - i swapped out my 501/555 combinations for g series after being very impressed with the G08 compare to the 508 i ran previously, and i really couldn't get on with the G series (G02 pre and G57 power) - i nearly returned the whole lot in disgust, but a friend loaned me a 559 - and i ended up buying that and returning the G57.

sounds lovely (well it did before the speakers went kaput)

aerius are in for new power supplies (apparently mine are teh super old old ones) and replacement panels.

something i was amazed at though - when i took the speakers into the Disti for the repairs (no boxes, so had to baby them in myself wrapped in duvets ) i filled in all the forms, etc etc - and they said "thanks" i said "can i have a reciept" they said "we don't give reciepts".....eerrrrrrrmmmmm,, now eventually i managed to get a hand written reciept from them (with the serial numbers written on it at my request) after explaining my reasons (could go bust, my speakers could be stolen, lost, etc etc) but they insisted the details were "in the computer"

they weren't malicious or unpleasant in any way - they just seemed generally amazed that i'd want a reciept.

my question to you guys - is this normal for hifi repairers/dealers - this seems fundamental to me for anything, let alone an expensive piece of kit liek this.

cheers for all the help folks

Rob

Hola Rob. In my workshop you get a receipt with the work order number and all the details of my workshop, phone, address, p.o. box, etc. I think that all depends of the workshop. Sometimes, the customer itself says I don´t need a receipt (but I make it anyway), because in the receipt is his phone numbers, the detail of the problem of the unit or units to be fixed, and all them with their serial numbers too. Hope this can help...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[A.N.]

i recently moved and decided to vac my panels on my aerius i's. only did a quick once over, and it did make a difference. will give them a good going over again and spend a bit of time on them.