Planar Speaker Asylum

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Planar Speaker Asylum

RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4

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In Reply to: RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4 posted by Sondek on September 24, 2012 at 08:28:16

Sondek! Its nice to see a thread on our favorite speakers...

Im moving to a much smaller place while I list my house on the market. Sure its insane to have 8 foot speakers in a 12x11 room but what else am I going to do ... store them? hell no..

Follow Ups:

RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4 - LutherG 14:42:26 09/29/12 (6)
I can't imagine having 8' electrostats! That was the only complaint I've ever had for these speakers is that once you stand up, the high-end rolls off a bit... Obviously, that's been corrected! Ha! Did Acoustat actually start selling their speakers this way or did this start out as someone's clever mod?

Cheers,

Luther
- RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4 - Sondek 08:25:14 10/01/12 (5)
  Luther, yes, Acoustat made a Model 6 and a Model 8. Don't know that they sold very many of them though. What The Peleton has, among others, is a homebrew set of Monitor 8's. The Monitor series used the tubed servo-amps, and the Model series used the transformer interfaces. I do not believe Acoustat ever made a Monitor 8 or Monitor 6. The only Monitor 8's I've ever heard of were either Model 8's converted to servo power, or homemade Monitor 8's stacking two pair of Monitor 4's.
  - RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4 - hella356 11:20:36 10/01/12 (4)
    Yes, and there were also the transformer interface driven 1+1 & 2+2 models which were also 8' tall, albeit narrower, along with some full-height Spectra models. My ultimate goal is to do a "Monitor 8", essentially two Monitor 4 speakers with the stands removed & stacked, although I'm going to build custom frames tuned to my listening room. These will also have two rebuilt Servo amps per speaker and new electrostatic panels of my own building (basically cloned Acoustat panels, but with some materials upgrades which should improve them) when I can afford such. Hopefully before too long. :)
    
    I find the 8' tall Acoustats to be surprisingly easy to live with visually, and most people don't even recognize them as speakers. I do love the radical, unorthodox look of the original Monitor 4 (which I had and loved many years ago) and every guy who saw mine loved them, too, but most women recoiled from their looks. My pair of 2+2 with blue Spandex covers have received passing grades for their looks by most women, however.
    
    The stirring and magical sound I used to get from the Monitor 4 (and have failed to find in any remotely affordable speaker since) is what has brought me to the point of taking the direct-drive Acoustat method to the extreme. They may not be the end-all in every facet of musical reproduction, but (to me) their overall performance is hard to match, especially when money is taken into account.
    - Well said. Could not agree more with - Sondek 13:05:25 10/02/12 (3)
      your assessment of the Acoustat Monitors. Here's a pic of mine in their native habitat ...
      
      Best Regards,
      
      Mike
      - RE: Well said. Could not agree more with - LutherG 22:18:24 10/03/12 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Well said. Could not agree more with posted by Sondek on October 02, 2012 at 13:05:25
        
        That's a beautiful system and of course, the speakers are what I hope mine will be again soon... :D
        
        My apologies for lack of responses the last few days. I'm finishing up my parents' house and am about to put it on the market so I'm in my final push to get this done.
        
        I emailed Roy at Sounds Like New and received a response. It'll be $800 to rebuild the interfaces and he was not a fan of all the extra capacitance added... I remember by buddy Ernie telling me he'd once sent them back to Acoustat and one of the guys there really giving him a hard time about the added caps but Ernie always said they sounded better that way and I have to say they sounded awefully good!
        
        Here is what Roy (who apparently used to work for Acoustat) said about the panels: "For the panels, you can take them out of the frames, take off the 3-pin plug and either gently hose the panels down on both sides.... or submerge them for a few minutes in bathtub.
        
        You can use a gently soapy water.... then rinse. Shake out the excess water or use an air compressor ...gently... to blow out the excess. Then they must air dry for two weeks before reinstalling into the frames.
        
        Take care to re-connect the three wires of each panel in the correct order to the 3-pin plug. Washing panels per the above was how we told folks to do it when they asked us at the factory."
        
        Of the interfaces, he had the following to say:
        
        "Your interfaces are easily, the worst I have seen. I would have to rip out everything and start over. Those grotesque capacitors and other ADDED parts must go. I cannot tell from just photos, what else might be needed. The cost will be $800.00 prepaid including return shipping by personal check or MO, included in the shipment if you want me to restore... to much better than new....the pair of interfaces.
        
        All work is by appointment only.
        
        If the two LF transformers are damaged, another 300 dollars will be required to be sent ...later....to cover those. Since flooding occurred in 1994 it is possible all of the transformers have dried out and may be OK.
        
        Your interfaces are the rare elongated box type MK121-1.
        
        We called them Universal Interfaces and very few of them were made. Finding replacement interfaces of this type would be nearly impossible."
        
        I'm very tempted to send the interfaces to him to rebuild. I have found a schematic of these interfaces and so with that, I think I will first put the interfaces on a Variac and slowly bring them up to full voltage and see how things measure to verify the transformers are at least not shorted anywhere... I'd like to see if these will work again before dropping the money to have them rebuilt though I don't doubt what Roy said he could do with these.... I've got to sell this house first before I put that kind of money into these interfaces.
        
        Plus, I want to see how the panels will turn out. I asked Roy if he could do anything to repair or rebuild a damaged panel and am still awaiting a reply...
        
        Anyways, I'll definately be back on this project very soon. If any of you have any thoughts about anything in this post I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say.
        
        I wish you guys all the best, and thanks very much for all of your posts and photos! I'm really jazzed about getting these going again. At least now I know that I have Roy as a resource so, if worse comes to worse, I know he can completely rebuild the interfaces... should the need to do that arise...
        
        So, on to the panels...
        
        Cheers,
        
        Luther
        
        The Servo amps are another option if you can locate a pair. - hella356 11:59:35 10/04/12 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Well said. Could not agree more with posted by LutherG on October 03, 2012 at 22:18:24
        
        Not easy to find, but the Servos seem to be generally preferred with the wide model Acoustats. There is a certain synergy between them. I definitely fall in that camp. You could offset the cost my selling your current amp. Savuto may be of help. Just an option. Good luck, you've already done some great work.
        
        RE: Well said. Could not agree more with - Sondek 08:20:17 10/04/12 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Well said. Could not agree more with posted by LutherG on October 03, 2012 at 22:18:24
        
        Luther,
        
        I am not experienced with the transformer interfaces so take what I say with a grain or two. The panels will work with any of the various MK121 interfaces. If the ones you have are toast, you do not have to rebuild them - although Roy is more than competent to do that work if you go that way. You could buy used versions of either the original MK121's or any of the Medallion versions. The later Medallion versions are said to be better than the earlier ones. The panels come up for sale from time to time on ebay. The 9 inch panels usually go for @ $65 - $70 each, but the 8 inch panels, which are a bit more rare than the 9's, usually go for closer to $100. If you need panels, you might also try Mike Savuto. Last time I saw his cache of goodies he had several.
        
        Best of luck with your restoration. If you really haven't heard them in a very long time I think you'll be gobsmacked with their performance. If you find yourself in the DFW area you are welcome to drop by and audition mine.
        
        Mike
RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4 - hella356 21:16:51 09/24/12 (0)
So you kept the Acoustats after all? Sounds like at least the stacked Monitor 4? Your mileage may vary, but I temporarily set up my 2+2 next to my primary speakers, a 3+1 arrangement (the internal 3-panel pod from the model X in a new vertical frame with an additional panel centered above) in my 11'-6 by 16' room to test whether 8 panels per side were too much for the room. The imaging was certainly confused with this setup, but the bass was outstanding and did not overwhelm the room. Strong response to 25Hz & only slightly down at 20Hz; hopefully you'll have similar results.

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