Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Intermittently Jump in 8000 Tweeter Volume

Hi All -

My left 8000 will jump about 3 or 4 db in output, from my listening position every day or so.

I'll recalibrate the speakers and using an spl meter, it's nearly 9 or 10 db louder at the cone then when initially calibrated, though my 861 displays the correct db attenuation.

After I go through the calibration again and store it, the 8000 returns to the correct volume again - for a day or so.

This doesn't seem to occur when the system is in use, but rather after it is on standby for a couple hours - meaning I don't notice any jumps in the midst of playback.

Also, this left 8000 is the master.

Does this sound like a comms issue, or something else? I do not have another m-lead to test this with. I was thinking of making the center channel the master, and using a different comms cable with this speaker in order to see if the behavior is duplicated with another speaker.

Anyone have any issues remotely similar to this?

Thanks,
Andrew

Hi Andrew

Could this be a Controller issue? Does the master 8000 display show a higher volume than the 861 display? Instead of the speakers coming on at the last volume at which the 861 was set (which would happen with the 861 as sole controller) it sounds as though the Master DSP is behaving as a controller. In that instance it will come on at 65 each time, even though the 861 may be lower.

With the system in standby, point the MSR(+) remote at the 861 and press 'Clear'. The display on the 861 should read 'Controller' and the master 8000 should read N.Con. See how it behaves after that.

If you ultimately need to reset this again, use the remote go into the setup menu of the master DSP (Fn + '0" IIRC whilst powering on from the rear). use the right or left arrow on the remote to scroll through the set up options. One will set the controller status, and your options are Con N.Con or Auto. Set it to N.Con.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

George

Thanks George - I gave it a try.

The Master DSP was on auto, so I've set it to N.Con, and will report back as to whether this corrects the behavior.

Best,
Andrew

No love from setting the Master DSP to N.Con, as the tweeter exhibited the same behavior this morning.

As I've been paying more close attention to this, I've noticed that it does sometimes occur in the midst of playback.

For instance, in order to test whether the levels are correct prior to playing something, I'll play pink noise (not through speaker calibration). When I did it this morning, the volume was initially correct, but rose significantly after about 5 minutes.

Additionally, this is only affecting the mid range driver in the 8000's head unit, not the woofers or the small tweeter - as they remain at the correct volume. This leads me to believe that it's most likely an issue with that driver - but not sure how to definitively diagnose this.

Any idea how much a mid range driver replacement costs in an 8000?

Hi Andrew

I can't think of any way in which a driver unit itself could intermittently increase then decrease output in this manner. I think this sounds more like something further back upstream, like an amp module or (more likely I suspect) a DSP board.

If you've spotted this one Marc (Koval), any comment?

Cheers

George

Andrew,

Are they SpeakerLink 8Ks?

Have you tried swapping the feeds, sending the right channel to the left speaker and vice versa? That way, you rule out the 861 as causing the problem.

It does sound like you have a glitch in speaker's panel. Hopefully, they are still under warranty and you can get M involved.

Hi Bill -

They are not Speakerlink 8ks, though I suppose I could swap channels 1/2 per your advice to see if it makes any difference.

I was also thinking of swapping the heads on the two 8ks, thinking this might be able to give me an idea of where the problem is located.

They are almost definitely not under warranty. I received these as a gift from my father when he upgraded his system, and M came over to calibrate these. They told me that these were the first pair of 8ks sold in the US, so I guess there are sentimental reasons to get these working as well

Anyhow, if I am looking at a board replacement, or something along those lines, anyone have any ideas of what the costs involved are?

Hi, both the left and the right channel signals are on the digital cable [SPDIF (coax) or AES/EBU (SpeakerLink)].

One could reconfigure the 8Ks and swap transpose them left/right but I doubt this is the issue; much more likey to be a problem within the given DSP8000.

Regards,
Carl

Contact Marc Koval

That's exactly what I would do, tying down if the fault is to do with drive unit or not.

Can you confirm that when the change in level occurs the volume 'number' shown on the DSP8000 remains unchanged, and shows the same as the other DSP8000?
This will rule out comms, and other configuration causes.

If it's not drive units, and not Comms/Config, then sounds like power amplification to me.
You'll need to remove the back panel complete with associated amplification and DSP and send it off to be serviced.

Cheers,

Rick

Hi Rick -

I can confirm that the volume number remains unchanged and is the same on all speakers.

However I was messing with the balance control on channel 1/2 via the 861 last night, and it was not working at all correctly and I was getting some really strange behavior. Basically, when I would turn the balance entirely to the left, it would work correctly, but when moving it entirely to the right, I would get a good amount of leakage in the left speaker (the problem speaker).

Then, I took my rear 6000s, and plugged them into channels 1/2, and I was having the exact same balance issue.

This makes me believe that the problem I am experiencing may be due to the 861 after all, as it potentially has some damaged channels. Does this sound like a possibility?

I posted a few weeks ago about intermittent sub problems via channel 4. I hadn't added this info previously because I thought it was irrelevant - but all of this may point to a damaged 861.

My next step is to put the 6000s back in 1/2 after, the volume jumps again in the left 8000 (it will lock there until I go into calibration mode). If the 6000s display the same behavior, I think I can identify the 861 as the cause of my issues.

And, Carl, I did reach out to Marc - thank you for the tip. Obviously it's a holiday week in the US, so hopefully I can get in touch with him next week, but in the meantime - I'm hoping to identify which piece is actually causing the problems!

Best,
Andrew

Is the problem there with all sources?

I have started to have a very similar issue but only listening to one source, my MS600 connected to a G61RSL via SPDIF and then to a pair of DSP7200 via SpeakerLink. At first I thought it might be the Sooloos system but then started to think it may be my G61.

I therefore tried with the G61 out of the chain, SpeakerLink MS600 to DSP7200 and the issue seemed to disappear, however, I didn't try this for very long as I cannot leave my system set up like this as my other sources go into the G61 (I will go back and do this for an extended period when I have time).

I have just connected my MS600 to another digital input on the G61 to see if the problem is remedied (still to listen). I was also considering connecting the analogue outs of the MS600 to the analogue in's of the G61 to try to determine the root cause of the problem.

I haven't tried anything with respect to balance.