Issue With My Clarities

[pat17]

Hi all, it has been a very long time since I haven't come to this wonderful place.

The reason was simply I was really happy with my setup and enjoyed it tremendously!

I was living in the hot sands of Abu Dhabi when I purchased my Clarities back in 2004. They have been driven by vintage Harman Kardon Signature 1.0 and 1.5. I then moved to Dubai where I stayed till the end of 2017. This has been quite unique - for the first time in my life, I just felt there was nothing to change there...

I then came back home to France. As my place was not ready to welcome my audio setup, I had them stored during 11 months in an unheated warehouse (not much choice I'm afraid). I just received them last week.

I tried to give them some time before re-using them as I knew the panels are quite delicate and can react quite adversely to a brutal climatic change.

Alas, I have been facing some issues since then. I could hear quite distinctively a sound which was as if something was peeled off. It came more when the sound was louder and was barely audible when the sound was light.

I gave them a rest of one week, to let them enjoy the warmth of my house. I tried them again yesterday, where I could hear the same sound yet not as frequent and strong as the week before.

This is where I would need your advice... and where I would be very thankful for any suggestion on how to deal with this issue!

Is there any treatment that would ensure the panels to be back to normal? Or should it go for service?

Thanks again for any idea you might come with, and sorry for my bad English (not my mother tongue).

 

[twich54]

Hi Pat, welcome back to France ! I suspect your Clarity's at 14 years of age may at a minimum need a panel 'shower'

http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...an-Shower-Cleaning-PDF&highlight=shower+panel

beyond that (hopefully not) a replacement

 

[pat17]

Thanks Dave, much appreciated!

I have had a look at the method. I'm pretty sure this is brilliant, as well I'm pretty sure given my poor skills when it comes to DIY, it would end up as a full disaster...

Is there any other method that would be easier to implement? I remember of a method involving a vacuum cleaner, to be tried after the MLs have been disconnected from power after one full day (same than for the shower by the way). Or is there another approach such as playing music a low level during hours?

 

[twich54]

Yes the vacuum procedure does work. I would utilize a natural horse hair brush attachment on my vac and do both sides in a top to bottom motion. Try it and see !

 

[pat17]

Thanks Dave, will get a try when back home next week-end! I will keep you posted on the result!

If not mistaken, another 24 hours after the vacuuming is done needed before reconnecting the MLs, is it right?

 

[twich54]

If not mistaken, another 24 hours after the vacuuming is done needed before reconnecting the MLs, is it right?

Not that I know of, I never did and never was there an issue !

 

[TomDac]

unplug your Logans for 24 hours BEFORE vacuuming.

 

[roni44]

Thanks Dave, much appreciated!

I have had a look at the method. I'm pretty sure this is brilliant, as well I'm pretty sure given my poor skills when it comes to DIY, it would end up as a full disaster...

Is there any other method that would be easier to implement? I remember of a method involving a vacuum cleaner, to be tried after the MLs have been disconnected from power after one full day (same than for the shower by the way). Or is there another approach such as playing music a low level during hours?

I have washed my Clarity few months ago, very easy to take apart, no need soldering, just need the right screw heads, if you don't have the dissemble instruction from ML, I can email it to you.

 

[pat17]

Thanks Twich, Tom and Roni for your explanation and clarification!

I have unplugged the Clarities last week before I left for Paris, so ample time for the disconnection. I shall give a try with the vacuum tomorrow morning, and check how it has worked during the afternoon.

Another point for which your expertise would be very precious to me - the Clarities date back 2004. Even if all is back to normal after they are cleaned, should I consider the stators might need to be changed in a near future? I was reading their lifespan was usually 10 to 15 years depending on the model and condition of use. They were in a good environment when I was living in the U.A.E. (A/C up and running 24/7, I'm not smoking, etc...) which might help to keep them longer, yet their time must be over soon still I'm afraid.

I was browsing the net - including the Martin Logan official website - to discover there is no official ML importer in France at the moment. If I need them to be serviced it might make it even more complex...

 

[roni44]

Hi Pat,

I'm in the same boat as you. My pair is dated 2003 and soon or late I will need to replace the panel. I'm living in Taiwan now and I'm not sure if the new distributor willing to order the new panel for me and even if they do, I'm sure they will hike up the price to 1.5 to 2 times higher like what they do with current model. ML do have great service dept. and I think best thing to do is just order the panel direct from ML. I know other owner with Clarity has order the power supply board directly from ML and shipped to HK. However if I'm not mistaking if we order the new panel from ML, we will be getting newest panel technology offered by ML which should be an improvement to our current 2nd gen panel. I read on FB ML fan page someone has order new panel for his Aerius and the cost was around 900USD. If that's the case, our panel should be bit cheaper and we have a brand new speakers to enjoy for many years to come.

 

[pat17]

Hi Roni,

Thanks a lot for this valuable information. Indeed it can be a good solution to replace the panels should they need to be changed before another importer is appointed! I'm quite surprised by the low cost for the statos - given the fact Aerius are not cheap themselves!

As for my issue, the vacuum process proved to be efficient, they are quite clear now... Sorry I didn't report that before, my schedule has been quite hectic since the beginning of the month - December is the month of closing, whichever department you are working in a multinational company...

 

[roni44]

Hi Pat,

You are very welcome. Believe or not, stator's price actually gone up 2 times of its price after ML was bought out by other company.

So glad to know your problem was solved by vacuuming, lately, one of my panel developed a really low buzzing noise which only comes on sometimes. Maybe it's almost time for me to order new panel. I actually have wild idea of ordering bigger size panel such as Aerius or EM ESL, then custom fabricate frame (pretty cheap in Taiwan) to bolt onto Clarity's bass unit.

I used to work for an Italian company sells water filtration, kitchen appliance and medical products. I oversee their international accounts which I traveled a lot including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, not sure if you ever shopped at Life Pharmacy, they were one of my client. Now I serve as advisor for few factories in Taiwan and getting ready for my next adventure in Japan next year.