Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian D6k's maintenance

Hi all,

Just read an article about maintenance of the component especially the caps has to be changed since they tend to be leaked after certain years. It will cause damage to the circuit board or other component. The D6'ks been in the market for 2 decades. Do they need service or should I wait until something happen. Anybody can share some experience?

Thanks

When they get to 15 years on you could start having problems. Take for example the caps that are in close proximity to voltage regulators they can get hot in temperature and dry out.

So there are a few things you could experience. One as you stated where you could get a fault on a amplifier board but also a drop off in sound quality.

I have a pair of old 5ks stamped with the Clifton road address and compared to a newer pair of 5ks they sound terrible. So they will be treated to a cap upgrade soon.

This is one of the things I offer. Cap upgrades on amps and DSP's.

Cheers chris

Thanks Chris,

Did you find the leaks from the cap? Is there any damage on the circuit board? Too bad you're in England or I will have you to upgrade my 6K's

Hi Keungyee,

I had been thinking along the same line and when I saw your post I asked Marc Koval and his response was at about 20 years or so it's time for a cap replacement in the PSU and AMP. Since my 6k's are late '93 to mid '94 vintage I'm going to have it done as soon as I figure out the logistics.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Do you have to send the speakers to the repair shop? Will you send the head unit as well? It's hard if you don't have the original box. Please let me know if you get the quote for recap. BTW, what is PSU?

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

First the easy answer--the PSU is the power supply. Next, I don't know why you would have to do anything to the head. I hope to be able to take my rear panels to my local, former Meridian dealer and have him do the cap changes. It's a pretty simple task to remove and reinstall them after the soldering and testing is done. While you're at it you might want to tighten your drivers too.

Hi Ken,

SO you just take the rear panel to have the service done? Is it easy to remove the rear panel off the speakers? Is that involve any soldering or just plug and play? Can you email or post some pics while you take the panel out? I usually tighten the drivers every few months. Thanks

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

I have not done this on a 6k but I have on a 5k. There are two panels, each is held in place by several screws. I don't think there is any thing involved except unplugging and plugging in connectors. Marc, if you're here correct me.

I'll be doing this myself so it will be difficult to take pics but when I get around to doing it I'll send you a blow by blow of sorts.

Ken

Sometimes they can leak or bulge at the top cap. But sometimes they can completely fail with no physical signs. Even when they have failed and still in circuit they are difficult to find by measuring.

I would say you may even be unlucky to have a problem at 15 years old. A 5k I was just working on was probably 15 years old and the caps were in a bad way.

I would have done whatever I could to help you but Marc is highly experienced and I'm sure would do a great job just like I would do

My D600s are 24 years old now, no major issues!

Tintin I have worked on many old speakers past 25 years old all running on the original caps. But I have also heard a lot of people complain that they don't sound as good as they used to .

Especially older active Meridian speakers like M2's for example.

I may well just have a peek and see what they look like...