Scenarios.... Dull and thick!

[Darren]

Hi everyone i've recently bought my first used (em dem) MLs - a mint pair of scenarios. Very proud!
Just one thing.... They sound terrible. Dull, boxy and really "thick" sounding.
I'm so disappointed. Where's the hear through clarity I was anticipating? Where's the sparkling top end? Yack!
I have them over a metre from any walls and driven by a HK power amp with loads of current and 100w per channel - the amp will drive the Scenarios very loud and they sound a bit better this way. Speaker Cables are QED silver anniversary and I have a variety of good sources.
Someone I know had a pair of these and now tells me he thought they were 'numb' sounding.
I don't want to give up on my first pair of MLs so any thoughts or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year!
Darren

 

[TomDac]

are you sure the panels have power??

 

[Darren]

Hi, thanks for replying. Yes, the panels deffo have power. They just sound awful.

 

[Rich]

Are you sure these are "mint"? Sounds like maybe the panels need replacing. Always good to demo used equipment for yourself before you buy, so you know what you are getting.

 

[roberto]

Hola. For a panel test, play your preference music, and at your normal listening level. Go to the front of the panel, and it should be produce sound from all the transparent surface (all the panel) from left to right and from top to bottom. If you are getting no sound, the A.C. plug cable could be loose. I do not recall if there is a LED at front bottom, where you can check that the unit is powered by the Mains AC line. If the sound panel is weak, then, before you get a new pair of stat panels, you have to check if the high voltage power supply is working. With just a little sound coming from the panel, indicates that it is working. Also, you can give to the panels, a good shower, yes, a good shower with mild water. No detergents. You have to take apart the panels, a not to hard job to do, and take them to the back yard, or to the bath, and with plain pipe water, with a hose, to the front, from top to bottom, wash them. Watch the colors of the panels for the connexion. Easy to do...red with red, blue with blue, and black with black. I had done this many times with excelent results! Happy listening!

 

[JayGee]

Are you sure you are in phase? Also, if you can get your hands on a CD with a 20hz to 20khz sweep signal, play that on each speaker to determine if you are hearing the complete sweep.

 

[Darren]

Hi Guys, many thanks for taking an interest. The Scenarios are ex dem so should have plenty of life in them.
I've tried the phase - I hoped it would be so simple. But it wasn't.
It's a shame but the best things about them is the bass - never thought I'd say that about an electrostatic. Go figure.

 

[roberto]

The phase is not an issue regarding if you have the panels working or not. One speaker out of phase, will cancel the bass, due to usually the recordings have the same bass energy below 80Hz in phase. A reason why THX cut frequency is 80Hz. The Scenarios were discontinued since some time by now, so you might have issues at their power supply, specially if they have being not in use. You do not worry. Martin Logan supports all their products. Contact the service dept and they will guide you to track your problem better. Just follow their directions and you are safe. Sorry that they are not working right, but I know for sure that they will. Happy listening.!

 

[motegi]

My wife bought me a ML Matinee center channel speaker for Christmas. Excited to listen to it with the Vistas in my theater I hooked it up and ran through the Audyssey auto calibration setup. Much to my dismay the Matinee sounded terrible. Worse than the Infinity center that it replaced. It sounded muffled and hollow like a $20 computer speaker playing inside a cardboard box. Actually with the Matinee in place the entire system sounded worse as if a heavy blanket had been thrown over all of the speakers.

Upon closer inspection the blue LED on the back of the Matinee was not lit. Apparently, in my haste I didn't have the power supply fully plugged in. The plug was in the hole but not fully seated. Apparently the Audyssey tried to equalize the other speakers based on the improperly functioning Matinee. Once I got the Matinee fully powered and reran the Audyssey all became well with the world!

 

[churchill]

Contact Melodie at the ML service department ([email protected]).

 

[Darren]

Thank you boys. Much appreciated. I will certainly speak to ML next week.
My very best for the New Year to you.