haireez
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Post by haireez on Nov 25, 2016 7:12:34 GMT -5
Hi,
I need some advice. I have someone trying to sell his Lexicon MC12 at a very good price of about USD$450 locally.
However,there is a slight problem with the unit as you need to power on/off 3 time to pass the diagnostic and go to normal. Even though the price is cheap, I just need an expert advise as to what might be the issue and can this be resolve and how.
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Post by mastertech on Nov 25, 2016 12:21:55 GMT -5
It would be hard to give any specifics as to what the problem could be. It would be a gamble. I have attached the service manual. There is lots of good reading in it that may help lead you to the problem. If it were me the first thing I would try would be a "Hard Reset". I would also ask if the problem is when the main switch is being cycled or does it also happen when just bringing out of low power standby. Lexicon MC-12 |
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haireez
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Post by haireez on Nov 25, 2016 12:57:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the advised and it's quite tempting to gamble and buy this set for such a good price.
But not too sure whether this could be resolve and if not, then I might regret later. Thanks for sharing the manual though.
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haireez
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Post by haireez on Nov 25, 2016 12:59:48 GMT -5
By the way,how do you do a hard reset on this MC12?
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Post by mastertech on Nov 25, 2016 13:05:43 GMT -5
By the way,how do you do a hard reset on this MC12? The procedure is in the manual, page 56. |
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haireez
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Post by haireez on Nov 25, 2016 18:32:16 GMT -5
Thank you sir!
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Post by mastertech on Nov 25, 2016 19:25:30 GMT -5
You are welcome.  Actually I was skimming through the manual some and I came across a section that indicated the unit has a battery. This could mean many things so I looked into it further and the battery is there to maintain the memory of an SRAM chip on the main board, U76 to be exact. What this means is that the battery is a critical part in the system. If the battery becomes to weak it cannot maintain the memory in that ic. And upon next restart could cause any number of various problems, possibly even the problem this one has. So I would definitely check the battery voltage and replace it in necessary. The battery appears to be a coin cell type, 3v, and is located on the main board to the left of ic U69. If it measures less then 2.5v then replace it. Actually anything less then 3v and I would replace it. This alone could possibly cure the start up problem if the battery is weak. |
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haireez
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Post by haireez on Nov 29, 2016 8:33:40 GMT -5
It does make sense. In actual fact, I'm using EAD theater master 8000 and I'm not sure whether mc12 is much better than my current EAD theater master.
Both are high end but very old technology vs Dolby Atmos, DTS-X for newer AVR. What's your recommendation? Should I just buy newer AVR with Dolby Atmos and discard MC12 idea.
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Post by thespianator on Nov 29, 2016 16:25:25 GMT -5
Not wanting to threadcrap here, but I have an EAD Theater Master Classic, and even though it has some issues, when it was working it was an excellent digital preamp that I only used in 2 channel, and I would say that it was a better preamp than the ones that followed, including the Sony TA-ES9000E (but the Sony was close and has a phono section). Even better than the B&K Reference 50.
That said, I appreciate the HDMI of the Marantz SR5004 receiver (bedroom set) and my Emotiva UMC-1 Pre/Pro (The Emo is buggy and I wouldn't recommend it). I would recommend the B&K AVR507 if you're interested in a one box setup that is non-HDMI. One of the best sounding receivers I have ever had the pleasure of owning, and it's definitely on my "regret I sold it" list.
I never heard a Lexicon MC12, just the DC 1 &2. Once I heard that Lexicon simply re-boxed an Oppo BDP-83 into the Lexicon BD30 and sold it for ~$3000 more than the Oppo retailed for, I have lost all respect for the company management, though sonically would still consider their used products.
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haireez
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Posts: 68
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Post by haireez on Dec 1, 2016 7:49:08 GMT -5
Still loving my EAD Theater Master 8000 and it's a good preamp definitely. Tried Casablanca 3 but doesn't excel as a preamp. Eventually sold the Casablanca 3 few years back.
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Post by krispy2001 on Mar 26, 2020 15:26:50 GMT -5
I've documented the repair of a Lexicon MC-12 with power supply issues in this video:
Hoping it can be useful to owners like me that want to keep it alive.
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