Damaged ML Theater!

[Dolfin]

I'm now the proud owner of a damaged ML Theater speaker. Functionally, it's perfect, but it would seem that FedEx ground was a bit too rough in the handling of my new precious speaker. The reason behind my posting is that I was hoping that some of you good people perhaps might have suggestions as to how I might 'repair' this to keep it from seperating.

I purchased the speaker from Ebay, it was shipped in the original box and packaging.

I'm attaching some images. Thank you all in advance for any advice or merely sympathy for my plight..

 

[Joey_V]

Same thing happened to me when I bought some floorstanding speakers from ebay. Ever since then, I stopped buying large speakers that need to be shipped to me. They never arrive safely due to their large size.

Atleast your speakers dont look TOO damaged. I'm sure someone will chime in on how to remedy your problem. Good luck!

 

[robertawillisjr]

If that crack is all the way through it may affect the sound somehow. Call ML and see. If it won't affect the sound, use superglue or some sort of epoxy sand and paint it.

I hope there was adequate insurance as part of the shipping. If so, send it to ML for repairs.

 

[roberto]

I'm now the proud owner of a damaged ML Theater speaker. Functionally, it's perfect, but it would seem that FedEx ground was a bit too rough in the handling of my new precious speaker. The reason behind my posting is that I was hoping that some of you good people perhaps might have suggestions as to how I might 'repair' this to keep it from seperating.

I purchased the speaker from Ebay, it was shipped in the original box and packaging.

I'm attaching some images. Thank you all in advance for any advice or merely sympathy for my plight..

Hola...well the first think that I do is to take apart all the speaker step by step...it is not as complicated as it looks. Then with white glue, I will try to filled the whole crack. I know that you could buy the cabinet from ML with no problem, or send it to the factory for repair...ask Jim Power, he is a super great guy that is in charge of the service at ML. He is the manager at service. His address is [email protected]

He will guide you better with your problem. Send him the pictures also, so he can take a better look of the problem...it is a shame that something like this has happened to you!
Regards from Costa Rica, and I wish you a very happy listening.
Roberto.

 

[jon7988]

If that crack is all the way through it may affect the sound somehow. Call ML and see. If it won't affect the sound, use superglue or some sort of epoxy sand and paint it.

I hope there was adequate insurance as part of the shipping. If so, send it to ML for repairs.

Just a FYI on Insurance. I had an expensive sub damaged, it WAS insured. However, the insurance protects the shipper (seller) UPS came out, did an inspection, and paid the insurance which was close to 5K. They would not even talk to me, as the agreement was between them and the shipper. He got paid, I got screwed. Legal pursuit was not practical as he was 3,000 miles away. It was my only bad experience, The only good thing was I paid by credit card, after about a 8 month investigation they did reverse the charges. Always have the insurance in your name. ie: make sure the seller agrees to YOU being the shipper AND receipient of the item, Always try not to pay in cash, M.O. etc. that has no recourse.

 

[Dolfin]

If that crack is all the way through it may affect the sound somehow. Call ML and see. If it won't affect the sound, use superglue or some sort of epoxy sand and paint it.

I hope there was adequate insurance as part of the shipping. If so, send it to ML for repairs.

It was shipped with 1500.00 insurance. Still waiting to hear back from the seller. I've already emailed her these pictures to hopefully get a claim started.

 

[Dolfin]

Hola...well the first think that I do is to take apart all the speaker step by step...it is not as complicated as it looks. Then with white glue, I will try to filled the whole crack.
Roberto.

Are there any sort of disassembly instructucions? Anyone done this before with a Theater?

 

[roberto]

Are there any sort of disassembly instructucions? Anyone done this before with a Theater?

Judging by the pictures that you have at your post, I can see that the crack is in the almost the center of the speaker´s cabinet and the support is holding both parts. This is good news to you, because due to the support, you still have the cabinet secured at both sides and I don´t see any problem to glue it.
At the manual, tells you how to take off the stand...them take off the support that it is secured with the screws at the speaker´s cabinet...fill the crack with plastic wood or similar. You can get it at any hardware store, and with white glue also, them paint it with flat black...and your are done!...Hope this can help...I can´t recall the exact black paint color, if you want the exact match. Believe me, I do know how do you feel. I had a similar problem with an Ascent cabinet some time ago.
Roberto.

 

[SteveInNC]

Judging by the pictures that you have at your post, I can see that the crack is in the almost the center of the speaker´s cabinet and the support is holding both parts. This is good news to you, because due to the support, you still have the cabinet secured at both sides and I don´t see any problem to glue it.
At the manual, tells you how to take off the stand...them take off the support that it is secured with the screws at the speaker´s cabinet...fill the crack with plastic wood or similar. You can get it at any hardware store, and with white glue also, them paint it with flat black...and your are done!...Hope this can help...I can´t recall the exact black paint color, if you want the exact match. Believe me, I do know how do you feel. I had a similar problem with an Ascent cabinet some time ago.
Roberto.

Assuming that it is wood, use carpenter's glue, the yellow stuff. An alternative would be to use polyurethane glue, which is ridiculouly strong. Gorilla Glue is one brand available in the US, UK, and Canada, see Gorilla Glue. Polyurethane glues are water-cured, instead of solvent-cured. Note, this is not the same stuff as "crazy glue" which is cyanoacrylate-based.

 

[roberto]

Assuming that it is wood, use carpenter's glue, the yellow stuff. An alternative would be to use polyurethane glue, which is ridiculouly strong. Gorilla Glue is one brand available in the US, UK, and Canada, see Gorilla Glue. Polyurethane glues are water-cured, instead of solvent-cured. Note, this is not the same stuff as "crazy glue" which is cyanoacrylate-based.

Well, you could try it. The sound of your Teather is produced by two little cone speakers at the sides and I don´t see any crack there, then the stat panel and three center tweeters...just try to bond it with the best glue for wood that you might get. Remember that the wood cabinet is made of presurized glued sanded dust of pine wood at 5000 pounds per inch. (Please forgive my spelling). This particular kind of wood is only made in two places in the whole world. One place is in Canada where ML gets it, and the other is in Chile. The wood has the same density at the edges than in the center. It is a unique kind. Also the speaker´s cabinete is not craked complete. So, I think it might work with no problem. Just give it a try and let us know how the project is doing. We are very sorry for you!!!
I hope that everything will work fine with no problem and I wish you happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Dolfin]

Update.

Thanks roberto, I have contacted Jim Power. That piece of wood is 825$! To have them repair it would be an additional 130$. I have received an e-mail back from the person I purchased it from, she is going to be opening a claim with FedEx. I've heard pleanty of horror stories about getting money out of fedex for claims, but as I said before, this was insured for 1500$, so the money SHOULD be there if the claim gets approved.

If in the event that FedEx will not authorize the claim, Jim gave me the service manual in pdf format so that I can take it apart and glue it properly myself.

So, we're in a holding pattern at present until the sender has time to begin the claim process.

 

[Reverb2009]

Thanks roberto, I have contacted Jim Power. That piece of wood is 825$! To have them repair it would be an additional 130$. I have received an e-mail back from the person I purchased it from, she is going to be opening a claim with FedEx. I've heard pleanty of horror stories about getting money out of fedex for claims, but as I said before, this was insured for 1500$, so the money SHOULD be there if the claim gets approved.

If in the event that FedEx will not authorize the claim, Jim gave me the service manual in pdf format so that I can take it apart and glue it properly myself.

So, we're in a holding pattern at present until the sender has time to begin the claim process.

It sounds like your heading in the right direction.

I would wait and see if Fed-Ex will make good on the claim and use that money to get the speaker repaired the right way. It will not only give you peace of mind that your speaker will hold together and not be in peaces on the floor one day coming home, it will also increase the value of the Theater if you should ever want to resell it.

Good luck

 

[roberto]

Thanks roberto, I have contacted Jim Power. That piece of wood is 825$! To have them repair it would be an additional 130$. I have received an e-mail back from the person I purchased it from, she is going to be opening a claim with FedEx. I've heard pleanty of horror stories about getting money out of fedex for claims, but as I said before, this was insured for 1500$, so the money SHOULD be there if the claim gets approved.

If in the event that FedEx will not authorize the claim, Jim gave me the service manual in pdf format so that I can take it apart and glue it properly myself.

So, we're in a holding pattern at present until the sender has time to begin the claim process.

Hola, and love to help if I can. Yes, ML has a great service team and Mr. Power is a fine gentleman. It is good to know that everything is going to be o.k. soon. I don't see any reason why not use it with your system. If you don't gey any distorsion, you could use it with no problem...
Cheers,
Roberto.

 

[Dolfin]

Hola, and love to help if I can. Yes, ML has a great service team and Mr. Power is a fine gentleman. It is good to know that everything is going to be o.k. soon. I don't see any reason why not use it with your system. If you don't gey any distorsion, you could use it with no problem...
Cheers,
Roberto.

Claim started, Jim has provided an estimate of repair so that can be added to it. I assume an inspection of the speaker will happen within the week by a FedEx rep, and then we wait for approval.

 

[Dolfin]

STILL waiting for resolution of this.

First FedEx didn't need to see the speaker, then they needed to. They didn't tell me when they'd be picking it up, so I suddenly started getting door tags. I took an entire day off from work to wait for FedEx, they didn't show up till 9:20pm on September 2nd to pick it up. Anyone ever hear of FedEx showing up so late? We waited a week.. no word from FedEx. Shipper called them again today on my behalf only to find out they haven't even looked at it yet and that maybe by wednesday we could call back for an update.

I can only ask... what is the point of insuring something when you have to devote the lions share of not only your time, but the shippers time to even entertain the possiblity of making a claim on something THEY broke! I'm at my wits end. I miss my ML theater. My klipsch center channel sounds so 'bose'.

 

[MarkNewbie]

STILL waiting for resolution of this.

First FedEx didn't need to see the speaker, then they needed to. They didn't tell me when they'd be picking it up, so I suddenly started getting door tags. I took an entire day off from work to wait for FedEx, they didn't show up till 9:20pm on September 2nd to pick it up. Anyone ever hear of FedEx showing up so late? We waited a week.. no word from FedEx. Shipper called them again today on my behalf only to find out they haven't even looked at it yet and that maybe by wednesday we could call back for an update.

I can only ask... what is the point of insuring something when you have to devote the lions share of not only your time, but the shippers time to even entertain the possiblity of making a claim on something THEY broke! I'm at my wits end. I miss my ML theater. My klipsch center channel sounds so 'bose'.

I actually am in the business and compete with FedEx. Unfortunately, they do not like claims as carriers are self-insured up to normally $500,000.00 per instance. At one point, FedEx had a claims ratio of 4% which was the highest in the industry. So carriers only use their insurance to protect themselves from catastrophic damage. How did you sign the delivery receipt and did you keep your copy? If you simply put your name on it then you have in effect said that you received the item with no visible damage. I am guessing that is the case here. You do have the ability to file a "concealed damage" claim which is most likely what your seller is attempting to do. The other unfortunate part is that the law says that the claimant (legally obligated) must do all they can to mitigate the claim for the carrier. Typically in a case such as this, the carrier will offer to settle for 25-30% of the claim value. I caution you to not let them send the unit for repairs unless they agree to send it to a ML dealer or ML themselves if you get to that point. Normally, they don't come and pick it up, they would send an independent third party out to inspect the damage and take pictures. That part surprises me so I guess they are sending it "free-astray" back to the shipper for final inspection. And normally, the carrier liability is only up to $25.00 per pound, per peice with a cap of $100,000.00. This is normally stated in a small clause on the Original Bill of Lading somewhere. Your seller would have a copy of that since they are the "Shipper" of record. It is aggravating but the carrier does not look at picking a damged shipment back up as a priority as it will not be producing any revenue so all revenue generating tasks will come before it. Good luck as you have my empathy here.

 

[Dolfin]

I actually am in the business and compete with FedEx. Unfortunately, they do not like claims as carriers are self-insured up to normally $500,000.00 per instance. At one point, FedEx had a claims ratio of 4% which was the highest in the industry. So carriers only use their insurance to protect themselves from catastrophic damage. How did you sign the delivery receipt and did you keep your copy? If you simply put your name on it then you have in effect said that you received the item with no visible damage. I am guessing that is the case here. You do have the ability to file a "concealed damage" claim which is most likely what your seller is attempting to do. The other unfortunate part is that the law says that the claimant (legally obligated) must do all they can to mitigate the claim for the carrier. Typically in a case such as this, the carrier will offer to settle for 25-30% of the claim value. I caution you to not let them send the unit for repairs unless they agree to send it to a ML dealer or ML themselves if you get to that point. Normally, they don't come and pick it up, they would send an independent third party out to inspect the damage and take pictures. That part surprises me so I guess they are sending it "free-astray" back to the shipper for final inspection. And normally, the carrier liability is only up to $25.00 per pound, per peice with a cap of $100,000.00. This is normally stated in a small clause on the Original Bill of Lading somewhere. Your seller would have a copy of that since they are the "Shipper" of record. It is aggravating but the carrier does not look at picking a damged shipment back up as a priority as it will not be producing any revenue so all revenue generating tasks will come before it. Good luck as you have my empathy here.

Well, It's still pending. It is being filed as a concealed damage claim. Included with the claim is a repair estimate from ML for fixing it, so we do have all our ducks lined up. I'm just hoping that it gets approved, the Theater center channel speaker simply just won't CRACK down the middle without alot of force (I would imagine if it was sitting upright and left to fall over that might be able to do it).

 

[Dolfin]

FexEx LOST my speaker!!

It was lost for almost a FULL month. It went to Florida, Colorado, and god knows where else. Then finally it was simply left on my doorstep like a piece of trash. I HATE FED EX!!

After myself and the shipper spent literally HOURS on the phone, we finally got the claim approved. Anyone want to see what a ML theater speaker looks like after it goes cross country in the back of a fedex truck?

Bottom.. now with pieces actually missing
shot showing the stator completely seperated from speaker
Here's the box.. pretty ain't it?