Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Planar Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Acoustat MK-131s - Help Request

Posted by HarlemAirShaft on February 2, 2016 at 12:44:11

My buddy in Austin is having an issue with his 33 year old speakers. Here's the email he sent me, asking for any advice or assistance, so I'm posting it here in hopes of helping him out. I'm forwarding the link to this posting to him. Thanks.

"Acoustat MK-131s. Probably the 2MH, which were only manufactured in 1983.

Each 'speaker' has two electrostatic panels running vertically inside it. I started noticing intermittent static in the left side unit. Then it was OK for a day or two. When it started happening again, I noticed one of the panels inside the unit was not producing any sound other than that occasional static.

I thought the problem might be a loose connection, so I check the visible wiring and then -- after some disassembly -- the wires between the box (with the subwoofer) and the fabric covered panels. Everything was OK, and reconnecting made no difference.

Then I stripped off the fabric (very carefully, so that I can restore it) and looked inside. I had never seen this before -- there is a 3D plastic honeycomb covering the two panels (which are also sandwiched between thin layers of clear plastic. I thought I might remove this honeycomb to view where the wires actually attach to the electrostatic panels. Then I realized that I would have to remove some of the wooden support structure and gave up as this is attached with staples and tacks.

So I reassembled the unit and listened again. Oddly, now the panel that was silent before was working, albeit at a much reduced volume, and the other panel -- which had been working -- wasn't working at all. The wood screws that attach this plastic honeycomb into place are sheathed in plastic. Perhaps I put the screws back in different places and the problem lies with one or more of these screws not being probably shielded. I can't think of any other explanation -- I haven't had the time to experiment any further, yet.

My last resort is an audio repair place, but how much experience can they have with what I've got? Acoustat has been out of business for at least a couple of decades and my sound panels were only made in 1983. FYI -- my audio guy has changed careers; he's now a faith healer and I don't think that will work."

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

VH Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---