Unbalanced sound output

[Ishaansuri]

So washed my panel and reinstalled it, no noticeable difference in sound….very disappointing that this could be merely an age related issue with the panel. It seems crazy to me that the panels would degrade in sound quality that much with only 8 years of use difference…(11 years versus 3 year old panels). ML suggest the price for a replacement panel would be $700, which seems crazy high for one ESL (not even an ESL-X), panel. I mean an entire speaker retails for $1,250.

It is possible this has had bad luck. If you have disqualified the electronics amongst the panels then it is possible the panel has failed.
On the discussion of longevity, Panels do not fail if looked after. ALL Esl's need proper care and storage and some love and care. I leave mine covered all the time and have now settled with the ritual to uncover them before use every time and cover them when I'm done. Like a musical instrument. For most, esl speakers are left and used in living rooms a lot as they look stunning. Many buy them for the looks, can never know if this particular one may have had a spill or something strange interfere with it while it was at the previous location.

A well stored set of panels with no exposure to smoke dust and elements along with proper compatible amplifiers driving them will last you.

It is worth investigating the electronics while you do consider a change of panel. Because from my experience a bad panel can affect the bias boards along with it, or the other way.

Also as far as the cost goes it is a bummer but primarily majority of the cost of a speaker is its panel. That is the secret sauce. The enclosure is minimal and electronics contribute marginally to the entire kit. So if your electronics are intact, then basically you will be getting a new speaker, and the panel replacement will come with new gleaming statters. So equate it against that I suppose.

And when you begin to enjoy the magic they produce in years to come, all this will be forgotten.

 

[drkumarmp]

It is possible this has had bad luck. If you have disqualified the electronics amongst the panels then it is possible the panel has failed.
On the discussion of longevity, Panels do not fail if looked after. ALL Esl's need proper care and storage and some love and care. I leave mine covered all the time and have now settled with the ritual to uncover them before use every time and cover them when I'm done. Like a musical instrument. For most, esl speakers are left and used in living rooms a lot as they look stunning. Many buy them for the looks, can never know if this particular one may have had a spill or something strange interfere with it while it was at the previous location.

A well stored set of panels with no exposure to smoke dust and elements along with proper compatible amplifiers driving them will last you.

It is worth investigating the electronics while you do consider a change of panel. Because from my experience a bad panel can affect the bias boards along with it, or the other way.

Also as far as the cost goes it is a bummer but primarily majority of the cost of a speaker is its panel. That is the secret sauce. The enclosure is minimal and electronics contribute marginally to the entire kit. So if your electronics are intact, then basically you will be getting a new speaker, and the panel replacement will come with new gleaming statters. So equate it against that I suppose.

And when you begin to enjoy the magic they produce in years to come, all this will be forgotten.

I got my Aerius which was not taken care off at all & unused for over a decade, tried everything to get all the sound from the panels but failed so finally gave it the shower, now its as good as new.
here is the video of the same.

 

[Tmort]

I got my Aerius which was not taken care off at all & unused for over a decade, tried everything to get all the sound from the panels but failed so finally gave it the shower, now its as good as new.
here is the video of the same.

What did you use for soap? Did you find that the crispness of the panel returned fully?

 

[drkumarmp]

What did you use for soap? Did you find that the crispness of the panel returned fully?

Soap was a simple hand wash soap, actually not sure what it has to return to, since I have never heard a Electrostatic before, actually the problem with this was from top to bottom as you move your ear close by, some sections were emitting sound were as others were dead, now all sections emit sound and it sounds good without any distortion, unless I actually hear a perfectly good electrostatic panel there is no way of knowing whats normal for these speakers.

 

[Tmort]

Soap was a simple hand wash soap, actually not sure what it has to return to, since I have never heard a Electrostatic before, actually the problem with this was from top to bottom as you move your ear close by, some sections were emitting sound were as others were dead, now all sections emit sound and it sounds good without any distortion, unless I actually hear a perfectly good electrostatic panel there is no way of knowing whats normal for these speakers.

That’s interesting, the only other “cleaner” I’ve seen referenced for the wash was simple green. My problem is I have one panel that’s practically new, the other 11 years old. The sound difference between them is subtle but also substantial in terms of brightness and upper end clarity, I can only attribute this to the age delta in the panels. A plain water wash made little to no difference, as I suspected. It’s discouraging to learn that apparently time affects the performance of the panels to this effect but it is what it is. To those who have old panels and think a wash brings them back to new I think are getting a big improvement if the panel is dirty, but I seriously doubt they’re “like new” for if they truly had a new panel to compare it to…they’d hear the difference.

 

[Tmort]

Closing this chapter: turned out my “dimmer” panel was the newer panel! Not the 11 year old one (but was a floor model apparently). I’d washed the dimmer panel in water only then tried soaping it with simple green, no improvement of note (certainly no worse). I had the chance to purchase the sister stator to my brighter panel (serial numbers sequential), so yes another 2011 panel. The results were a very nice audible match! Thank god.
I think the moral here may be that panels sound a bit different depending upon when they’re built…so be wary of ever replacing just one panel or mixing speakers from different times of production!

 

[drkumarmp]

What i feel is that the dust that gets accumulated behind the metal portion of the front and back panels prevents the electrostatic effect for pulling and pushing the sandwiched center mylar sheet, so we need to clean behind the metal grid, only way other than dismantling and brushing the inner surface would be to use a very soft brush such as a saloon neck brush that's large yet soft to slide between the grid and the mylar without damaging the mylar, with soap and water on the brush and it's as good as new, can repeat after few years, always cover the speakers when not use.

 

[jmanny]

So washed my panel and reinstalled it, no noticeable difference in sound….very disappointing that this could be merely an age related issue with the panel. It seems crazy to me that the panels would degrade in sound quality that much with only 8 years of use difference…(11 years versus 3 year old panels). ML suggest the price for a replacement panel would be $700, which seems crazy high for one ESL (not even an ESL-X), panel. I mean an entire speaker retails for $1,250.

Im in the same exact position with an ESL panel. I seriously don't want to spend $700 on one panel. Ive tried a new internal power supply, new oem charger and nothing. When a different panel is hooked up to the affected speaker, the different panel works fine, so it's obviously the panel that's the issue. Did you use soap?

 

[Tmort]

Im in the same exact position with an ESL panel. I seriously don't want to spend $700 on one panel. Ive tried a new internal power supply, new oem charger and nothing. When a different panel is hooked up to the affected speaker, the different panel works fine, so it's obviously the panel that's the issue. Did you use soap?

Yes I used simple green if I remember right. Then the distilled water rinse. It never really made a difference. My two panels were of different age, I was able to buy the matched panel (next serial number) from one of the panels and they mated well so really it was just the output of the one panel that was being affected.
You can try to find a used panel but no knowing if they’ll match well. Buying only ONE new panel may leave you unhappy with the match so really unless you buy two new panels it’s a crap shoot.
In the end I sold my ESL electrocutions for a pair of Classic 9’s and it’s musical bliss. Of course I’ve also vastly improved much of my system along the way as well.

 

[jmanny]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too, they'll always be off. So you just sprayed the panels with the basic Simply Green spray cleaner first, then washed the simply green cleaner off the front and back of the panels with your regular shower head, then washed the panels front and back with distilled water? Did you put the distilled water in a spray bottle to spray it on the panels or just took a gallon jug of distilled water and slowly poured it on the panels? Sorry if these questions are stupid, lol I just really don't want to mess this up!

 

[Tmort]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too, they'll always be off. So you just sprayed the panels with the basic Simply Green spray cleaner first, then washed the simply green cleaner off the front and back of the panels with your regular shower head, then washed the panels front and back with distilled water? Did you put the distilled water in a spray bottle to spray it on the panels or just took a gallon jug of distilled water and slowly poured it on the panels? Sorry if these questions are stupid, lol I just really don't want to mess this up!

I bought a large like 2.5 gallon dispenser that’s got a pull out port to dump the water on it, you basically are just flooding it to rinse it. Then let it air dry for like 24 hours.

 

[jmanny]

Ok so there doesn't need to be a ton of water pressure with the distilled water. I should have time to try this tomorrow, I'll keep you updated!

 

[jmanny]

I bought a large like 2.5 gallon dispenser that’s got a pull out port to dump the water on it, you basically are just flooding it to rinse it. Then let it air dry for like 24 hours.

Did you initially wet both sides of the panel with regular water out of the shower head? Then when you sprayed the panels down with the simply green, did you scrub it with a brush? Or did you just spray the simply green and let it sit for a little bit and then washed it off with the distilled water?

 

[Tmort]

Did you initially wet both sides of the panel with regular water out of the shower head? Then when you sprayed the panels down with the simply green, did you scrub it with a brush? Or did you just spray the simply green and let it sit for a little bit and then washed it off with the distilled water?

Wet them, spray with the detergent and let it set for a minute or so, rinse with regular water then do the distilled water rinse. Supposedly you don’t really need to work the back side of the panels.