Posted by MARCOS AUGUSTO on January 31, 2003 at 14:15:39:
In Reply to: Marcos, hold onto those A1s.. posted by Lew on January 31, 2003 at 06:52:40:
Hi Lew,
....thank you for the kind comments; it's always good to hear from people you don't even know showing some kindness to you, and comiserating with a fellow human being who is stressed out....you can't even imagine in which state i was two days ago when i fully became aware of what had happened to my much beloved, admired, fulfilling, amazing, etc,etc,etc...pair of Sound Lab A-1's...(did i forgot to mention "adored at the altar of music reproduction" !!)....
as per your question, the speakers are not misbehaving in an identical manner: one has completely stopped "crackling", which is interesting all by itself because several times in the past 1 1/2 years i had left it "crackling" for extended periods of time and it always, always had showed a healthy "crackle", untill two weeks ago when it suddenly stopped altogether, and that is why i believe Dr. West's assessment of the stripping of its conductive coating (after all, i can't think of anyone else that knows more about Sound Lab speakers and its many quirks than Dr. West, who is their chief designer, company president, e-mail answerer,etc).
as for the other speaker, that one started causing problems about four months after i took delivery of my A-1's, when i noticed at first that it had stopped displaying that characteristic "crackling" sound and instead displayed an unusual, weird, "growling-like" loud sound mixed in with a much lower volume "crackle", then slowly, over the course of a few months, it seemed to get worse when i started hearing a very low-level electronic noise that sounded like "ping", "ping","ping" (like water dripping), even when the speaker wasn't being used or its amplifier turned on, untill finally i noticed that it wasn't playing as loud as the other speaker, and that the only way to bring it back to its standard loudness levels was to raise the bias control to maximum for awhile and then lower it back to normal...that was when i noticed the tiny electrical sparks !!! it seemed to me that it was problem, after problem, after problem..........ad infinitum.....
you know, Lew, looking back at all the replies i got on this thread, i was struck by the amount of people which, like i, did not know of how detrimental that "crackling" sound can be to the speakers if left on for extended periods of time, so i guess i don't have to feel as stupid as i did when i realized what had happened !!
i tend to be one of those people that become very impatient when something needs to get done, especially when it comes to my HT set-up, plus,worse of all, music is my life, literally, and just to see those speakers standing there staring at me ...well, it really, really bothers me !!!
i guess i don't have to preach to my fellow SLOGGERS how proud one becomes when one begins to realize how incredible Sound Lab speakers sound like, it is, for want of a better description, a wall opening into the music, and nothing in-between to stop its enjoyment in its most minute details...
i am now concerned that, even if i were to find a way to remove the panels from their wood frame for shipment to the factory (by the way, has anyone here ever done that before, and, if so, how did you manage to unscrew the bottom part of the panel from the frame ?), assemble two wooden crates and line them with styrofoam, ship them and the backplates (in separate boxes) to the factory....well, what guarantee would i have that after all that expense and bother i would receive the repaired panels back without any damage, since, as we all know, that is when most of the damages reported to Sound Lab speakers occur ???