I have a pair of 27 year old Quest Z speakers, I just ordered new stator panels from ML... 2 months out! They sent me a link for aftermarket replacement woofers that they no longer offer too. The main issue I have moving forward is ML states the new panels will now have brown tint to them, "no longer pitch black" so I am thinking about replacing the black fabric that covers the woofer with dark brown or vintage woven material. I also not against sanding/refinish the wood side bars that hold everything together. Maybe even have the black frame/box changed from flat black to something else. Any suggestions from yall would be appreciated!
Rebuilding Quest Z, need opinions
- Thread starter Huge
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Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:
Not sure if the Quest of that vintage has Nextel covering as the 'flat black', but do be aware it's toxic, and you should have a cabinet shop strip it completely and apply new paint or finish of your choice.
Pull ALL electronics and parts out of it first.
If doing that, have them (or DIY) the rails. Plenty of interesting dyes you can use to change the look.
Do change the woofer out for a new one, and seriously consider going partially active on the low end by wiring the new woofer straight to the low-frequency input posts and disconnecting the passive low-pass feed. Feed the output from the pre-amp to both the existing amp and a new Crown XLS2002 with built-in DSP and crossover functions. You can send me the thank you gift card once you hear that.
Of course, even better would be to go full active, but that requires a bit of computer and tech skills.
Good luck with this project, and please keep us appraised of the progress.
Pull ALL electronics and parts out of it first.
If doing that, have them (or DIY) the rails. Plenty of interesting dyes you can use to change the look.
Do change the woofer out for a new one, and seriously consider going partially active on the low end by wiring the new woofer straight to the low-frequency input posts and disconnecting the passive low-pass feed. Feed the output from the pre-amp to both the existing amp and a new Crown XLS2002 with built-in DSP and crossover functions. You can send me the thank you gift card once you hear that.
Of course, even better would be to go full active, but that requires a bit of computer and tech skills.
Good luck with this project, and please keep us appraised of the progress.
Awesome, thank you so much for the info. I had no idea there could be really toxic finishes. I will read up on the Crown XLS2002, I need to educate myself on the proper setup. I inherited these from my father, so I'm not an expert in this audio tech. These still sound great but I'm interested in making them better, although I'm not sure I'm capable of going full active. I will update as I progress on this project... and won't forget your gift card when I'm sitting pretty!
Hassebasse75
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I took the clothing/frontcover totally away. But then you have to add an support for the stators. Since it is the frontcover that supports the stators from below. It was like that on my Quest. Don’t know if the Quest Z is build the same. I was verry happy with the result. I also used an electronic crossover, then I was more free of choice on the woofers. Good luck! Have a great time pimpin’ your Quest Z!!
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I just wanted to chime in and let you known that the advice JonFo gave you is absolutely spot on. Last year I bought a pair of Odysseys and then installed new panels. I then went with JonFo’s advice and first replaced all 4 woofers and added another set of binding posts so I could directly power the new woofers with new amps, my project required two for the 4 woofers one is a crown and one is a behringer, and I run mine thru a separate dsp unit that I control tje woofer crossover and my multiple sub set up. The amp he recommended to you is perfect for doing the active crossover all by itself from the amp! And btw he’s right you’ll be sending him a thank you note for sure because the difference in the sound of the speakers when you get the woofers out of that factory crossover is not small, it makes a very noticeable difference.
