After thirteen years of no speaker...

...related problems, my left channel Aerius suddenly quit. All was fine on Sunday, but when I turned the system on today there was no sound coming from the left panel. I've isolated the problem to the speaker, but that is all. There is some sound coming from the woofer. Something just gave up the ghost. I doubt it's a case of dirty panels. I've been lucky in that I've never really had any stereo problems before. When removing the rails, is it tap from the top down or from the bottom up? Thanks, Steve.

Tap the rails from the bottom up.

~VDR

Hmmmm... think about this for a minute.... isn't this the perfect time TO UPGRADE???????:devil:

If I remember correctly, you move your speakers out of the way of rugrats who visit you. When moving a speaker once I had the lead at the panel get detached, with results somewhat like yours. A bit of solder and all was well.

Thanks guys. I'll check the wire connections first. If I hadn't just bought the new car, I'd be thinking about something in the ESL series.

Connections seem ok. I'm going to call my dealer and see if they service MLs. I gotta believe some electrical component gave out.

slowGEEZR said:

Thanks guys. I'll check the wire connections first. If I hadn't just bought the new car, I'd be thinking about something in the ESL series.

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Hola. The Aerius have a red led at the bottom of the speakers. If the red led is not on when playing music, then you have the mains A.C. cable loose or faulty connected to the socket of the Aeirus...or a faulty power supply of the Aerius. Also you might have the speaker connectors plate, the ones that are connecting the woofers to the panels, loose too. Try to disconnect all the speakers cables and then reconnect them again. Make sure all the binding post nuts are secured and the plates are in position, if you are not using bi-wire connection. Hope this can help...happy listening,
Roberto.

repair/mod

GEEZR I have talked to Ken Ealey via e mail who offers CLS interface mods on his website. I have the same problem as you on my 1995 vintage aerius.
He is willing to do a repair/mod for me as I haven't been able to find anyone in Canada to do the job! (I haven't sent them to him yet) Maybe he is an option for you. D.R.
Hey maybe we could get a package deal

Thanks Roberto and Duane. Currently, I'm waiting for the speakers to discharge and then I will swap either the panels or the power supplies between the speakers. This should isolate them and tell me which is the culprit. If it is the panel, I will just order new panels for both speakers. If it is the power supply, I'll order them. It seems pretty straight forward to remove either. I don't think there is a fuse, but I'll check when I take the rear panel off.

slowGEEZR said:

Thanks Roberto and Duane. Currently, I'm waiting for the speakers to discharge and then I will swap either the panels or the power supplies between the speakers. This should isolate them and tell me which is the culprit. If it is the panel, I will just order new panels for both speakers. If it is the power supply, I'll order them. It seems pretty straight forward to remove either. I don't think there is a fuse, but I'll check when I take the rear panel off.

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Hola. slowGEEZR. The best way to take off the back part of your Aeriuis, is removing the woofer at front, and with the help of a lug of wood, and a small rubber hammer, hit the back part, through the front woofers hole. You can see the back electronics and the power supply from the woofer's hole too. The problem is that the back part sometimes is almost glued to the speaker's cabinet because of the paint. and you can damage the finish of the cabinet. Hope this can help...happy listening,
Roberto.

roberto said:

Hola. slowGEEZR. The best way to take off the back part of your Aeriuis, is removing the woofer at front, and with the help of a lug of wood, and a small rubber hammer, hit the back part, through the front woofers hole. You can see the back electronics and the power supply from the woofer's hole too. The problem is that the back part sometimes is almost glued to the speaker's cabinet because of the paint. and you can damage the finish of the cabinet. Hope this can help...happy listening,
Roberto.

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Thanks Roberto. I was wondering if I was going to have to use a screw driver to pry the back off!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go listen to some Wilson Watt Puppies V. 7 at a new friend's home and then come back and work on my speakers.

slowGEEZR said:

Thanks Roberto. I was wondering if I was going to have to use a screw driver to pry the back off!

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Ooooh, don't use a screw driver to pry the back off, you'll mess the cabinet paint up. I would bet that your speakers are going to be like my old SL3s where the back is stuck in place.

This is going to sound a bit rough, but if you go through the back take the claw end of a hammer and place it in an open speaker wire terminal (after removing all of the rear screws). Place a rag under the head of the hammer and in between the removable back plate to protect the cabinet finish. Give the handle of the hammer a bit of a gentle hit with your palm and it should pop the back plate off or loose.

Edit: I did this with my SL3s, however, they that the older metal speaker nuts. I'm not sure that this would be the best method if you have the plastic nuts.

Thanks Kruppy. I'm not going to use a screw driver, rest assured, ha ha. Mine has the plastic speaker wire nuts, so I'll try Roberto's suggestion.

Ok. I'm back from listening to the Wilson's. Lenny had mucho sound treatments and top quality gear and the sound was wonderful. We listened for over two and a half hours and I really enjoyed the sound. So, now it's time to check out the Aerius.

I removed the back panel screws and the panel practically fell onto my lap. Very easy to remove. Hey, this is going good. 1st step, visual inspection. Actually, the electronics look brand new, there's not a spec of dust anywhere. I expected some dust and maybe a few cobwebs. Here's a pic, notice it looks different than some other Aerius guts posts. I guess Martin Logan tries different things out during model runs.


Ok, first thing I notice is yes, it has a fuse! Wait, it doesn't look right. Meter says it's open. So, off to Radio Shack for some fast blow, quarter amp, 250 volt fuses. Here's a pic of the fuse...


I'm back. The fuses I got are the same rating, but I can't even see the wire inside. The fuse that was there had some thick metal inside. But, they're both rated the same, so ...

I hooked everything back up and put some music on and damn, still no sound from the left side. So, take the back off again and yes, the fuse is blown. Ok, I'm going to unplug them and tomorrow I'll swap out the panels. Guess I couldn't be lucky enough for it just to have been a fuse.

slowGEEZR said:

Ok. I'm back from listening to the Wilson's. Lenny had mucho sound treatments and top quality gear and the sound was wonderful. So, now it's time to check out the Aerius.

I removed the back panel screws and the panel practically fell onto my lap. Very easy to remove. Hey, this is going good. 1st step, visual inspection. Actually, the electronics look brand new, there's not a spec of dust anywhere. I expected some dust and maybe a few cobwebs. Here's a pic, notice it looks different than some other Aerius guts posts. I guess Martin Logan tries different things out during model runs.

Ok, first thing I notice is yes, it has a fuse! Wait, it doesn't look right. Meter says it's open. So, off to Radio Shack for some fast blow, quarter amp, 250 volt fuses. Here's a pic of the fuse...

I'm back. The fuses I got are the same rating, but I can't even see the wire inside. The fuse that was there had some thick metal inside. But, they're both rated the same, so ...

I hooked everything back up and put some music on and damn, still no sound from the left side. So, take the back off again and yes, the fuse is blown. Ok, I'm going to unplug them and tomorrow I'll swap out the panels. Guess I couldn't be uppky enough for it just to have been a fuse.

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Hola. If you have again an open fuse, them you might need a new power supply. Unless you can track the problem. It is very easy, but you need a high voltage probe. The voltage multiplier at the begining, where the xformer is, should be reading around 90 to 100 V. A.C. of course...then double at the first diodes, and so...inspect the diodes for short...usually that is the problem that I have when I have bad fuses. Disconnect power cord, and make drawing of the cables and their position at the pc board. Once you have it, inspect all diodes at the voltage multiplier....hope this can help,
Roberto.

Thanks Roberto, but I need the stuff pointed out to me. I'm very leery of plugging in the power supply when it laying outside of the cabinet. I think I may just end up sending it to Martin Logan for inspection and repair/replacement.

Time to call Martin Logan....

They built the damn things and are sure to be aware of common failure modes of the Aerius line. After all, they sold a whole lot of them -- some say that the Aerius brought ML into the mainstream of the business thanks to their top-notch sound and affordability.

In fact, ML customer service is so good that they may replace your interfaces for almost nothing. They might just surprise you. And don't forget to mention the MartinLoganOwners club !!!

~VDR