Blown 11A?

[zigman]

Hi All,

New to post, but been following MLO for a long time. Thanks everyone for the great insight!

I just got a pair of Impression 11A's and was loving them. Today I was testing different interconnect cables, and was being very careful not to leave my amp on when switching the cables. Stupidly on my last test, I left the amp on and heard the usual pop when connecting the cable to source. Wasn't very loud so wasn't worried. When I played music on the speakers I started hearing heavy distortion. Tested and looks like the right speaker has that "blown speaker" sound where you hear more distortion than music. It's definitely coming from the panel.

Tried two different amps and speaker cables same thing. Unplugged everything, let it sit for a while, plugged it back in, and same thing. Anyone have thoughts on this or experienced something similar? I will try giving ML a call tomorrow. This is a bit surprising because I never had this problem with my older Source speakers which I had for years.

Thanks!

 

[twich54]

'ziggy', first off ......welcome !

second, it appears you f'd up. You said you heard the 'usual' pop, indicating you've done this before, not good. Perhaps the issue lies in your pre-amp or source ?

try changing the speaker connections to see if it is channel related or the speaker to confirm

 

[timm]

great possibility there dave - on the preamp .... So - I am not completely familiar with the 11a -- any lights that come on for the speaker? I didn't see -- did you flip flop the connections? If it is coming from the pre - and you didn't flip the connections from left to right - that seems to be the missing test? Unless you did it - and didn't mention it.... or I missed it after re-reading your post. Do you have any tubes in the mix?

 

[zigman]

'ziggy', first off ......welcome !

second, it appears you f'd up. You said you heard the 'usual' pop, indicating you've done this before, not good. Perhaps the issue lies in your pre-amp or source ?

try changing the speaker connections to see if it is channel related or the speaker to confirm

Thanks Dave, sorry when I said "usual" pop, I meant the sound that happens when you have amp/speaker on when you plug a mini jack into a source. In this case it wasn't very loud. This doesn't normally happen at all, has only happened once or twice in the past (accidentally) and no damage caused to speakers.

I got in touch with ML and as usual they have been awesome. Turns out it this was just coincidence, the speaker electronics has some problems. Swapped electronic trays from one speaker to the other and it worked fine. Pretty awesome how they have simplified serviceability on the new Masterpiece series. Should have the problem resolved soon.

great possibility there dave - on the preamp .... So - I am not completely familiar with the 11a -- any lights that come on for the speaker? I didn't see -- did you flip flop the connections? If it is coming from the pre - and you didn't flip the connections from left to right - that seems to be the missing test? Unless you did it - and didn't mention it.... or I missed it after re-reading your post. Do you have any tubes in the mix?

No tubes in the mix (yet). For an amp I have a McIntosh MC452 and temporarily using a Denon x6400h receiver as a preamp. Trying to decide which preamp to get (tube vs. ss).

 

[timm]

Hmm well when funds arrive - are you considering a Mac pre? If so - there is a huge Mac community on audioafficianado. People can give you the dope on the different preamps they sell depending on your price point. I like tube preamps personally

 

[zigman]

Hmm well when funds arrive - are you considering a Mac pre? If so - there is a huge Mac community on audioafficianado. People can give you the dope on the different preamps they sell depending on your price point. I like tube preamps personally

For sure, long term plan is to get a c2600 or comparable. I think having a tube pre matched with the mc452 would be the perfect combo. Only problem is my birthday speaker upgrade has turned into endless new components in my wife's eyes so I need to tread carefully on adding new items into the mix not to mention I have maxed out our available space.

I did however, find a middle ground for time being for the pre. I got a good deal on a Marantz 8805 to replace out Denon X6400H, which can hopefully do double duty as pre/pro until in the next year or so to get a dedicated 2ch pre-amp.

Thanks for the tip, I visit AudioAficionado often. Only problem is the more I read, the more I want more Mac components!! :music:

 

[zigman]

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update here. I called ML on this soon after I posted this and they replaced the entire speakers with brand new pair of speakers (awesome customer services). They have worked great, I did experience a coming out of sleep issue which turns out it is a software issue which they are aware of and have a fix. We found this out after changing the trays with new ones. I guess leave it me to help find a fringe case firmware bug.

Had some great adventures with different paired gear as well. I found the MC452 no matter what I did to be a bit too warm. The highs were too rolled off for my liking, no matter what I did even going with AQ silver interconnects. Pianos and string instruments never sounded quite right to me.

I then moved to Luxman 509X, which fixed the highs but lost the mid-bass. While some songs sounded amazing others sounded a bit lacking overall fullness/naturalness. I can see some people really liking the combo since it was very neutral sounding but accurate.

When talking to the US Vitus distributor (great guy btw) and he recommended I try out the Vitus RI-101. I was able to do an in-home demo and wow, talk about best of all worlds. Highs are crips, vocals and mids are full and natural, and amazing bass control. It was like adding 2 subwoofers into the room without any change in any other components. Have never heard a full body sounding amp have crisp highs as good as this.

I also just switched from AQ cabling to Ansuz. Pretty amazing cables, very neutral and natural pure sound without coloration.

Hope this gives some insights for others in a similar journey. I would highly recommend anyone who is looking for tube like sound, while retaining resolution and having the power of solid state demo the RI-101 or even better the SIA-030 (if budget permits). To me the RI-101 pairs great with ML speakers, though this is all about personal preference.

 

[Scorpio1951]

Hello Zigman, be on the lookout for a C2300. I have owned one for 12 years with no problems. I did take it on myself to upgrade the six output tubes to NOS Telefunken tubes, with a great improvement in the sound. I use the C2300 with a rebuilt MC2205 and Summit X's, purchased new from Shawn Millin of DaVinci Media in January 2017. The sound is out of this world! This C2300 is a keeper; not sure what else the C2600 offers, but Mac just gradually improves their new models. Happy listening, John