Martin Logan Support

[GreenJelly]

My model is Martin Logan Ethos. I'm in Europe.

I found one channel is lower then the other. The symptoms is that one channel starts out extremely quiet, with sound only coming out the woofer. Then, after a few minutes it gets loud enough to hear on its own. When played in stereo though, the other channel completely dominates.

I talked to Martin Logan Service directly, and they had me switch the back plates (the problem did not migrate with the plate). And then theu diagnosed the issue as a bad power supply. I don't see any other signs of problems on the board itself.

Martin Logan quoted the price in USD at $100. But then I mentioned I was in Europe and the redirected me to a local dealer who quoted me 100 Euros for the part and $115 Euros for the shipping. This seems excessive, as the item is more money (check USD->Euro exchange rate) and the shipping is extreme.

I will be leaving for a month, so I'm thinking of asking for it shipped slower. Not sure if that will help.

Is this typical? If I keep these, and this doesn't fix it, will I need to buy new panel? Anyone know what these cost in Europe?

I also bought this on Auction, and the auction will be paying for the part. My biggest fear is that this doesn't fix the issue. Not sure how to even handle this.

Any suggestions?
Michael

 

[kevineolson]

photo?

 

[GreenJelly]

 

[GreenJelly]

Sorry for the delay. Holiday madness.
I was going to swap the boards, next. To see if the problem switches with the board to the other channel.

I am assuming this is the power supply. The ML service rep said it was down here. I see no obvious signs of death, but maybe I'm missing it.

 

[GreenJelly]

 

[GreenJelly]

 

[GreenJelly]

I swapped both the small boards and the small boards + the transformer. And the volume continued to be low on the same channel.

 

[GreenJelly]

Did some more diagnosis. It's the panels.

IF I had bought the power supply. I would of been not only out the 200+ for the power supply. But I would of also been out on the auction. This would of cost me thousands.

Good Thing I didn't trust the ML support. They need to be a bit more accurate, or we would of had a problem.

Not a good thing.

 

[GreenJelly]

I now got an accusational reply from the distributor. They're accusing me of ordering the part, and not getting support from Martin Logan. Luckily, its all in writing.

And we had gotten it working partially. Then it just stopped working, again.

Will be looking to return the speakers. Won't ever bid on another pair of these.

 

[slofut]

Good...

 

[GreenJelly]

I'd like to fix them. Not sure why this is good. Could you offer any useful advice?

Does anyone know anything else we can do to get them working?

 

[audioxcel]

Did you determine that the problem was in the panel by moving each to the opposite speaker?

 

[GreenJelly]

Yes.
I haven’t done anything to the panels themselves. Just swapped them.

 

[Robert D]

The obvious answer is to order new panels from ML,but i.wouldnt do that until you know if everything else on the speaker is good.

I ordered new panels for my Prodigy speakers and am glad I did. Shipping to Europe will probably be a lot of extra $$$.

 

[audioxcel]

Yes.
I haven’t done anything to the panels themselves. Just swapped them.

Yeah your problem sounds like some others have had when a panel was failing. Here is a link to an old thread where someone had similar symptoms. weak sound from panel - help

 

[GreenJelly]

The martin logan distributor said it would be over 2,200 for a pair of panels. And that they couldn't ship a single panel, they must be shipped in pairs.

I'm finding out about returning them to the auction as this was not mentioned on the post. This "Distributor" is charging more for the shipping then the items. It's really excessive, and they're acting like they are making a bundle.

 

[GreenJelly]

I might try washing the dead panel as well. I don't know if another distributor will be a bit more fair. The one speaker I have sounds amazing, but these speakers seem way to fragile compaired to their competitors. And are at a high price here. I'm not sure its even a brand I want to touch, anymore.

Also interested in what people think the value of a pair of Ethos with new panels is worth on the used market. I see a few pair at 3000, but they don't come with an extra working panel or new panels for that matter.

 

[msimanyi]

As long as you protect them from UV - some people make covers out of pillow cases, or even have a custom cover made, which also protects against dust - you should get another 10-15 years out of the new panels. It may seem like a lot of money, but having gone through it myself on a different model, in my opinion it was well worth the expense.

 

[ttocs]

I think it matters more what you think of the speakers as to how much you want to spend to keep them.

I had a pair of JBL L-110 speakers for 32 years because I loved the sound of them. They were about $700 new as I recall. They needed to be re-coned every 10-11 years. First time was $450, second time was $425. When time came for the third service, they also needed mid-range and tweeter service, so I decided to get new speakers, after 32 years with the same speakers, amp, tuner, and turntable.

Cost had nothing to do with my decision to service what I had. It was all about the fact that I was totally happy with the sound. My decision to move on to other speakers was because it was time to discover what was out there, which lead me to ML, but it was the need for service that caused the need for a decision at that time.

Happy with the sound? Keep whatcha got and pay 'da man.
Don't like the cost to keep 'em, especially the shipping? I totally understand that one. That makes it easy to say, what can I get for what it would cost to service the old speakers including shipping? Answer, other nice speakers.

 

[GreenJelly]

Thanks You two.

Do you know of any other things to try and rescue this panel, aside from washing them?

Some people are saying recoating works, but struggling to find a guide on it.