How do I know my Cinema i is working properly?

[Balthazar2k4]

I just recently picked up a ML Cinema i second-hand and I am in a bit of a quandary as to whether it is working as intended. Let me preface by stating that I am fairly new to ML and have had little experience with electrostats prior. I originally hooked the center to my Pioneer Elite SC-07 and immediately noticed that it was overpowered (the sound seems like it is in a box and very low volume) by my mains (ML Sources on an Emotiva XPA-2). I recalibrated through the receiver auto setup and discovered that my receiver needed to set the channel to +10. I immediately thought "well, looks like I need an amp". So I bought an Emotiva UPA-1 which I got yesterday. I hooked it up and re-ran the auto setup and got nearly the same results (now it was +7.5). Clearly I am missing something as I went from 140w -> 350w with little effect. I then read through the Cinema i manual to see if I had missed something during setup, but alas I had done everything 'right'. What I did notice is that in the troubleshooting is that I should check the DC power to insure it is connected as it can cause this sort of problem. I unplugged the DC power to see if anything changed and interestingly it sounds the same. So do I have a bad DC power supply or can the speaker run for a period without it? I did not have a lot of time last night to test, so I didn't really arrive to any conclusive results. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[roberto]

Hola. First you have to be sure that the power supply DC plug is all the way into the speaker socket. Sometimes looks that it is but it is not. When you play the pink noise to adjust the speaker level, do you have the panel working? All the panel must produce sound. If the panel is not, then three things could be wrong. 1) the DC power supply 2) The high voltage PC board 3) Bad panel. There is a service procedure to troubleshoot your problem. The best way is contact Mrs Melodie at [email protected], or call ML at the service dept. Do not worry, you will be in the best hands to solve your problem. To me, it looks like a bad panel, but it is difficult to be sure from here Costa Rica. Perhaps more friends and Cinema I owners will guide you better than me. But if you contact Melodie, she will guide step by step to find the culprit of your problem. Happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Balthazar2k4]

Thank you Roberto. I called ML this morning and told them of my problem and they suggested some things to try. The panel does produce sound, albeit not very loud. I will unplug the DC power supply and let the speaker sit overnight and check to see if it sounds different. I did not realize that the panel can hold a charge for hours in some cases, so my short test last night was far from conclusive.

 

[roberto]

Yes...and can make you think everything is correct. The volume level of the stat panel should be the same as the tweeter and the two sided woofers. Because there is a big difference in pitch, then the best way is using the pink noise of your receiver. When playing it, you can unplug the DC power supply and you will tell in less than a minute a loss in level of the stat panel, then plug it back, and you can tell the gain in level of the stat panel right away. If you do not have this, then one of those three things above in my previous post could be causing your problem...you will find it soon... happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[shakham]

I had the same concern with my logos. I ended up opening it and disconnected the woofer and tweeter to test each part one by one.

Another useful tool is frequency generator software. I used FreqGen (free app) on the IPad. If you also have an SPL meter then you can get some conclusive results.

At the end I found out everything was working fine.

 

[97ChameleonTA]

I had a similar problem with a second hand Cinema i that I picked up. Only difference is I had no sound out of the panel at all, just the tweeter and the mids. Working with Melodie, she informed me that there was a bad batch of transformers in the Cinema i production run and explained how to identify them. Sure enough, I had one. She quickly sent me out what I needed to fix the problem and the speaker is as good as new.