[thunderbrick]

First, my name is Bob, and I am an AudioPhool

OK, I gotta come clean on progress on my 20.1s, and I may get drummed off of AC for this fiasco…………..

Something (maybe me) went seriously wrong so I took a month-long break while I was on the road 4-5 days a week.

The time line:

While my beloved Moscode, a Hafler 500 and a BGW 500D were all out getting tuned up and checked for specs, I ran a single Parasound HCA 1000A amp; good, but not great.

Got the three amps back and tried bi-amping with the Hafler on the bass.  And that's when the roof fell in………………

First, NO, I didn’t read the DAMNED Maggie instructions!  Hell, the crossovers had very, it seemed, explicit drawings about high and low-frequency hook ups.  Easy…………one amp each into low and high channels, right?  Otherwise, why were there HF/LF jumpers?

Uh, no.

First I got terrible screeching noises and immediately shut down the amp.  May have blown speaker fuses (been so long I don’t recall).  Happened twice and it took me FOREVER to track down an AQ solid-core IC that was trashed.  Great cable, so long as you install it once and NEVER move it. 

OK, don’t tell my wife, but I finally read the instructions and pulled off the crossovers for direct amp hook ups, divided by an electronic crossover downstream of the pre.

Then had no low end signal.  Opened up the wall jacks to double check wires.  All OK.   NOTE:  My speaker leads run through in-floor conduit.  Massive AQ mains, Blue Jeans for subs.  THAT was a PITA to pull!

Finally figured out the problem (don't remember what it was, maybe cables again; maybe stupidity.  I’m guessing 50-50 either way)

Listened.  Not good.  Spent a LOT of time adjusting my active crossover to reduce a very pronounced standing wave.  The mids seemed muted, and just not right.  Ribbon tweets were making sounds so I think they survived (thanks to the fuses).
Then I subbed the Parasound for the Hafler.  Enter stupid genes as I clumsily shorted one lead, blowing a bunch of fuses in that amp, which still sits open on the floor.

Sooooooooooooooo, started all over with the original Maggie stock crossovers.   Moscode 300 running full range.

Something is just not right.  All the drivers (and fuses) seem OK, but the mids just seems to have lost that magic and depth, soundstage.  The mids are there, but just not there as before.  Bottom end is good, but wooly and ill-defined.  As if the 20.s have become too bass-heavy.  The standing wave is gone, and the speakers haven't been moved a bit.

So that's when I hit the road for most of a month.

So, here are my questions………….

Did I torch the Maggie x-over?  Damage drivers?

Did I blow $7500 in savings on these gems?

Is my hearing suddenly shot?

Does the Hafler suck as a LF amp, as my STL-area repair shop suggested?

I am not, and never have been an EE, but I used to work in a building next door to a bunch of them.  That should be enough, right?

In short, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON????

Thank you, Gentle Readers, for any input you may offer.

‘brick

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wow Bob. 

I'd really like to give you a verbal kick in the balls, and laugh at you, but I just can't do it.

I can't help you either, but I do wish you the best of luck getting it figured out ASAP.

Best wishes Brother. 
Bob

[thunderbrick]

Bob, you're getting soft in your old age.  At least that's what Tina said on Facebook..........

[Bob in St. Louis]

 

Oh...I see how it's gonna be.

Now that I've had time to ponder a solution to your audio woes, I think I've got one for you.
Something more your speed......

[SteveFord]

I will try and get some educated guesses for you but can't promise anything.
In the meantime, you can't take the blame for this.  You must be allergic to feathers and that's what muddled your thought process. 
Another fine mess Jenny has gotten you into.
 

[thunderbrick]

Thanks, Steve!

The flying lizard is now perched on the top of my laptop screen, grooming herself.  Pulls out feathers and drops them on the keyboard like a dog dropping a dead squirrel on new white carpeting.  When she's not crapping on me.

Bob, with the state of FM, and especially the loss of KFUO-FM in STL (THANKS, Mrs. Puhols!) AM will do just fine.  Maybe I can get one of them new-fangled Blows radios for the kitchen.  Yep.  That'll do the trick.   

[thunderbrick]

Oh...I see how it's gonna be.

Now that I've had time to ponder a solution to your audio woes, I think I've got one for you.
Something more your speed......

Hey!  I remember that radio!  Got one as a college graduation gift!

[thunderbrick]

Update:  Been listening to Eva Cassidy CDs that I've not heard before.  Bass seems muddy, and her magnificent voice seems deep back in the recording, with the band instead of in front.  Same with Chris Isaak's.  The balance just doesn't seem right.

That's not what I remember from the first weeks with these speakers.  I still have the 1.6s on hand.  May do an A-B later in the week.

[berni]

Sorry, to hear that.
You blame the ac cord or I didn't got it right? Wasn't your amps freshly checked?
Check and replace all the fuses, I also think the problems lies else where.
Maybe you hear everything wrong because of your fear.

[SteveFord]

The best long distance diagnosis is that you probably only did damage to your amp.
Maybe for peace of mind send the crossovers back to Magnepan for a check up?

[thunderbrick]

Steve, I thought about that, but have been traveling so much........

UPDATE:  Sunday I pulled out the Hafler and inserted the Parasound.  First and trip to Rat Shack for fuses, couldn't find the correct values on the fuses, the manual, or the web, so I guessed.

Inserted fuses then chickened out until I checked with Parasound (keep forgetting), and suddenly thought "wait a minute!  When the hell did I move the speakers closer together?"

Pushed them out 18" inches each, and BINGO!

Things are nearly where the should be!  Still have a bit of an imaging hole on the middle, but things are 90% back to where they should be!

Once I get back to bi-amping with the Parasound I might send the Xovers out for a check.

Loosing 6 weeks of listening because of a stupid alignment issue!

[SteveFord]

Are you now back in business?
I just had a thought: would ScotchGard help bird droppings slide right off of Magnepan socks without causing damage?  It might be worth a try.

[thunderbrick]

Not only am I back in business, Steve, but in all my travels over the past two months I have scored some GREAT LPs!

Having said that, just last night I put the Parasound amp back together, and today I'll remove the stock crossovers and go back to biamping.  Still have to do a little speaker adjustments for fill in a slight center hole.

And the damned bird (which just prevented me from sleeping in )?  Maybe get some lengths of 3" PVC, slice then lengthwise, paint 'em black, and set them on top of the Maggies so the little darling can't get any grip.

Or, I could just leave a few doors open and tell my wife a hawk flew in and ripped open the cage.  RIP, Jenny!

[SteveFord]

It looks like others have experienced your dilemma and found a solution:



(only kidding, bird fanciers, but the title struck me as funny).

[thunderbrick]

Hmmmmm, I do live in the woods, and have seen a snake up on the deck of our upper story................

[berni]

The litte bird can stand on every slippery surface you may think of, even if its angled..
You should use same spikes out of pvc, so he cant put his feet to the ground,
Take a thin plastic an cut some 3" long naroww strips, bend every second one to the same direction and you get a Y spike, where he has no landing area.. Think of a long hair comb.
The original idea looks like this, but metal spikes are to ....

[SteveFord]

Berni the Impaler?
That makes me think of a Venus Fly Trap.

[Bob in St. Louis]

[berni]

Thats way I said to use plastic strips , don't want to be marked as a torturer.

[thunderbrick]

Berni the Impaler?
That makes me think of a Venus Fly Trap.