ML Center Theater - Mod or upgrade

[BDH55]

Spades are famous for loosening up. Banana Plugs are pretty good for staying tight unless someone messes around.

I thought it was the exact opposite! I've never had a spade loosen up... of course I do crank them down...

 

[KINS]

Any info about Focus C18 version “on table”. Does it comes with feets?

 

[wink]

Don't let the price fool you, that is a decent woofer. Just keep the crossovers at 90Hz or above.

So basically for $740 you can totally refresh a Theater i (minus the tweeter, which should last a long time), which seems like a decent value relative to the cost of refreshing the larger units.



Congrats, and do the woofers at the same time, the cost is negligible.

Ron just emailed me from ML; new panel is finally done. Due to Covid their having trouble getting the coating for the diaphragm. It took almost 7 months...good thing I am a very patient person. Lol

 

[wink]

Ron just emailed me from ML; new panel is finally done. Due to Covid their having trouble getting the coating for the diaphragm. It took almost 7 months...good thing I am a very patient person. Lol

Now on to ordering the woofers. Tweeters?

 

[JonFo]

Now on to ordering the woofers. Tweeters?

If the tweeters are working fine now, then I'd skip replacing them. Those should last a lot longer.

 

[wink]

For a 20yr old speaker a couple of hundred extra bucks for a total refresh is worth it, I believe.

 

[wink]

First step in refresh..

 

[Hesekiel]

Hello I am ilkka and I live in Finland.
I am sorry because not so good English.
But, I own apair Mlo Quest and because this pair is about 21years old i should replace both panels.
To whom shoud I turn to.
I have heard some "Ron", who maybe can help
Thanks answer beforehand
Your :Ilkka Ahonen
Phone: +358407513307

 

[Phil in Ocala]

I would do a search on the net and find a German business who focuses on high end audio.

 

[Tosh]

Ask Reiner E. Römer in Germany:

Shackman_reromanus_roemer-audio

reromanus Shackman esl electrostatic loudspeakers, tweeters and esl otl amplifiers , entry pages

reromanus.net

 

[birdbox]

First step in refresh..

Reviving this old thread as I just picked up a Theater center this week and then found out that ML no longer sells a new panel. Any thoughts on what I can do now that a replacement panel isn't an option? I could try a shower. I talked with Russ (amazingly nice guy) about cost to refurbish and he said he could get it back to 85% of what it was like new for under $500. I was doing some critical listening yesterday and wasn't very impressed with the speaker and I'm assuming it's all because it's age (1999 original purchase). I had my nova500 max volume and that was just starting to stress the speaker a little, but it was not singing.

I presume your refresh went well wink?

 

[wink]

Reviving this old thread as I just picked up a Theater center this week and then found out that ML no longer sells a new panel. Any thoughts on what I can do now that a replacement panel isn't an option? I could try a shower. I talked with Russ (amazingly nice guy) about cost to refurbish and he said he could get it back to 85% of what it was like new for under $500. I was doing some critical listening yesterday and wasn't very impressed with the speaker and I'm assuming it's all because it's age (1999 original purchase). I had my nova500 max volume and that was just starting to stress the speaker a little, but it was not singing.

I presume your refresh went well wink?

Has exceeded my expectations. Still sounds incredible!

 

[wink]

 

[birdbox]

Has exceeded my expectations. Still sounds incredible!

Out of curiosity, what did you do with the older panel that was replaced?

 

[wink]

Out of curiosity, what did you do with the older panel that was replaced?

Holding on to it. I have a project in mind for it.

 

[R1200CL]

Any thoughts on what I can do now that a replacement panel isn't an option?

Upgrade the XO ? Ship the speaker to :

Speaker Upgrades | GR-Research

gr-research.com

Also, I think there is a guy in Germany that do panel upgrades.

 

[birdbox]

Upgrade the XO ? Ship the speaker to :

Speaker Upgrades | GR-Research

gr-research.com

Also, I think there is a guy in Germany that do panel upgrades.

Is the crossover not good stock or do you mean refurbish with new capacitors?

I did go to the CR site, however although a lot of speaker brands are mentioned, I didn't see anything regarding Martin Logans. As far as sending to Germany, that's probably too costly for me since, as I mentioned, Russ Knotts in Ohio would do a refurb for a reasonable price although he's not putting a new diaphragm on, just a new coating.

I did give it a good shower last night, so I'm hoping that gives it some zing again.

 

[18000rpm]

Reviving this old thread as I just picked up a Theater center this week and then found out that ML no longer sells a new panel. Any thoughts on what I can do now that a replacement panel isn't an option? I could try a shower. I talked with Russ (amazingly nice guy) about cost to refurbish and he said he could get it back to 85% of what it was like new for under $500. I was doing some critical listening yesterday and wasn't very impressed with the speaker and I'm assuming it's all because it's age (1999 original purchase). I had my nova500 max volume and that was just starting to stress the speaker a little, but it was not singing.

I presume your refresh went well wink?

I have a Stage X and the panel volume is low. With Audyssey room correction on my receiver I can still get a relatively flat response out of it. It also helps that the Theater and Stage have tweeters so the panels only cover the frequency range around 300-3000Hz.

I had Russ repair my Aeon i and Summit previously and was not completely happy with the outcome. It was ok and listenable, but because the panel volume is lower than the woofer you still need some kind of room correction if you want a reasonably flat response. Russ removes and reapplies the coating instead of replacing the membrane.

The company in Germany that fully rebuilds them is Hifi-Zenit - Startseite although the website appears down at the moment, but this page has some info HiFi Zenit GbR | Cambridge Audio EU

If you do use them I'd be very interested in the outcome.

 

[birdbox]

I have a Stage X and the panel volume is low. With Audyssey room correction on my receiver I can still get a relatively flat response out of it. It also helps that the Theater and Stage have tweeters so the panels only cover the frequency range around 300-3000Hz.

I had Russ repair my Aeon i and Summit previously and was not completely happy with the outcome. It was ok and listenable, but because the panel volume is lower than the woofer you still need some kind of room correction if you want a reasonably flat response. Russ removes and reapplies the coating instead of replacing the membrane.

The company in Germany that fully rebuilds them is Hifi-Zenit - Startseite although the website appears down at the moment, but this page has some info HiFi Zenit GbR | Cambridge Audio EU

If you do use them I'd be very interested in the outcome.

Thank you for the detailed info!

Starting with the good news, washing the panel did have a positive impact on sound. Bad news is its still lacking highs and sorta sounds like a thin blanket is hung in front of the speaker. If you crank up the volume to very high levels, the panel finally starts to sing, however it's just too much for normal listening.

Worse news, ML got back to me and they will not rebuild the panel. They said disassembly ruins the stator and can't be rebuilt. So it appears anyone with a Theater is out of luck going the original manufacturer route.

I'll look into the company in Germany for a quote. I'm guessing it's going to be cost prohibitive though.


Last ditch option is diy rebuild, which is interesting to me, but I'm not sure I need any more projects.


Real final option is sell it and move on.

I appreciate the guidance and suggestions!