stevick
New member
Hi Gang,
I must admit to being somewhat intimidated by the level of audiophilia here. I'm sad to say that I'm not at your level. While I did dream as a young man of having high end equipment, budget realities/priorities had always limited me to more affordable stuff -- Klipsch Heresy was my longtime mainstay for speakers, then Monsoon Sonogistix FPF-600. As I aged and raised a family, I had continued to long for finer equipment, but again, other priorities were present. I retired a couple of years ago, but the bug never left me. I did know of and admire ML speakers, just never expected I would ever own any.
Fast forward to last weekend. I noticed a 2-hour-old classified listing in a neighborhood forum by a lady offering ML speakers "as is" for FREE, which were said to be 15 years old, sitting in a garage for the last 5 years and in unknown condition. The accompanying picture showed a very clean looking 5-piece set. Needless to say, I immediately sent a message indicating I would be glad to take them and she consented. I picked them up the next day and was definitely not disappointed -- it was 2x Aerius i in oak trim, 2x Script, and a Cinema! She was very gracious, mentioning that her phone had been ringing non-stop since my contact. BTW, I did not take advantage of her - she was well aware of what they were, but was happy to give them to someone who would appreciate them, as I assured her I would. She said her husband had replaced them years ago, but almost cried when she told him she was letting them go. I dashed home with them and read everything I could about them, all-the-while chomping at the bit to find out if they were working. I learned of the dust vacuuming/cleaning procedures, which I employed; of the dark prospect that the aged panels might be faulty; and the fantastic support ML provides for their products. When all was ready, I finally started the testing process...
The first Aerius I hooked up sounded great, as did the second Aerius, and the Cinema too! Alas, one of the two Scripts had a problem - the woofer worked but nothing from the panel. I also noticed that the woofer cover had slid up under the panel and inch or so. From my reading in this forum I suspected that the problem may be a HV wire connection being sheared loose from the stator by the slippage. I contacted ML support for disassembly and troubleshooting guidance and received a VERY helpful and timely response from Ron. I disassembled the unit and sure enough found the black wire had its solder connection sheared off the rear stator - easy fix! Just to be sure of no other issues, however, I swapped in the good panel from the working Script and it did not work, suggesting a bigger problem with the electronics (maybe caused by the loose HV wire shorting?). I opened the box and saw nothing charred, discolored, or noticeably problematic. When power was applied, the red LED on the power supply lit (even with no signal). I called Ron and he sent instructions for the power supply bias voltage testing procedure (requires a giga ohm resistor to use a standard multimeter, which is hard to come by). He also delivered the sad news that a new PS board would cost $380+shipping, but obviously I really can't or shouldn't complain.
As I write this, I am now enjoying my "new" fronts and center (even with my inferior SLS surrounds). I only wish I had younger ears so I could appreciate their performance as much as their imposing beauty. I'm hoping to soon get the Script sorted and get those online too. When I do, I will have a home theater setup to die for! I hope I didn't bore you all to death, but I am truly pleased and excited to be among your ranks - even if undeserving...
Steve K.
I must admit to being somewhat intimidated by the level of audiophilia here. I'm sad to say that I'm not at your level. While I did dream as a young man of having high end equipment, budget realities/priorities had always limited me to more affordable stuff -- Klipsch Heresy was my longtime mainstay for speakers, then Monsoon Sonogistix FPF-600. As I aged and raised a family, I had continued to long for finer equipment, but again, other priorities were present. I retired a couple of years ago, but the bug never left me. I did know of and admire ML speakers, just never expected I would ever own any.
Fast forward to last weekend. I noticed a 2-hour-old classified listing in a neighborhood forum by a lady offering ML speakers "as is" for FREE, which were said to be 15 years old, sitting in a garage for the last 5 years and in unknown condition. The accompanying picture showed a very clean looking 5-piece set. Needless to say, I immediately sent a message indicating I would be glad to take them and she consented. I picked them up the next day and was definitely not disappointed -- it was 2x Aerius i in oak trim, 2x Script, and a Cinema! She was very gracious, mentioning that her phone had been ringing non-stop since my contact. BTW, I did not take advantage of her - she was well aware of what they were, but was happy to give them to someone who would appreciate them, as I assured her I would. She said her husband had replaced them years ago, but almost cried when she told him she was letting them go. I dashed home with them and read everything I could about them, all-the-while chomping at the bit to find out if they were working. I learned of the dust vacuuming/cleaning procedures, which I employed; of the dark prospect that the aged panels might be faulty; and the fantastic support ML provides for their products. When all was ready, I finally started the testing process...
The first Aerius I hooked up sounded great, as did the second Aerius, and the Cinema too! Alas, one of the two Scripts had a problem - the woofer worked but nothing from the panel. I also noticed that the woofer cover had slid up under the panel and inch or so. From my reading in this forum I suspected that the problem may be a HV wire connection being sheared loose from the stator by the slippage. I contacted ML support for disassembly and troubleshooting guidance and received a VERY helpful and timely response from Ron. I disassembled the unit and sure enough found the black wire had its solder connection sheared off the rear stator - easy fix! Just to be sure of no other issues, however, I swapped in the good panel from the working Script and it did not work, suggesting a bigger problem with the electronics (maybe caused by the loose HV wire shorting?). I opened the box and saw nothing charred, discolored, or noticeably problematic. When power was applied, the red LED on the power supply lit (even with no signal). I called Ron and he sent instructions for the power supply bias voltage testing procedure (requires a giga ohm resistor to use a standard multimeter, which is hard to come by). He also delivered the sad news that a new PS board would cost $380+shipping, but obviously I really can't or shouldn't complain.
As I write this, I am now enjoying my "new" fronts and center (even with my inferior SLS surrounds). I only wish I had younger ears so I could appreciate their performance as much as their imposing beauty. I'm hoping to soon get the Script sorted and get those online too. When I do, I will have a home theater setup to die for! I hope I didn't bore you all to death, but I am truly pleased and excited to be among your ranks - even if undeserving...
Steve K.
