Ozzy- On another thread, Ted from Synergistic said the LED used in the Active shielding can last up to 75,000 hours.
Ted_D- When used in the Active Shielding circuit they are operating under ideal circumstances and should last 75,000 hours or more before needing to be replaced. Question: How does "should last 75,000 hours or more" become "should last up to 75,000 hours?" Just curious. |
I hope they don't last long. I'm thinking of putting some black tape over them. The cables are great but why do I need blue light radiating all over the place? On a positive note LED's use almost no electricity. |
Ozzy, I had an active shield fail. Synergistic promptly replaced the shield for free and I have not had trouble since. Contact them and ask your question. I'm sure Eliott or Ted will be more than happy to answer your question on cost. |
Leica man . I am familiar with Teds posting, he actually said he has a set that have lasted 50,000 hours , but said they should last for 70,000.
So , I would like to hear from Synergistic Active Shield owners as to there actual experience.
Bjesien , The LED's are the Active Shielding, once the blue light goes out, so does the active shielding. |
Joeyboynj, Thats great that they fixed it for free !
I am just getting into the cables.
I only own the Apex interconnects, but I have just ordered a Hologram D power cord.
So, the more I invest in these cables the more I wonder about the longevity.
Too bad the owner can't simply replace the LED himself.
About how many years or months until yours went out? |
Ozzy- I am familiar with Teds posting, he actually said he has a set that have lasted 50,000 hours , but said they should last for 70,000. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. So Wizard of Oz where did Ted say 70,000 hours exactly? On a much less contentious topic, welcome aboard the good ship Teslaphile- cheers! |
Ozzy, mine was one of the ones that failed in the first 100 hours and Synergistic promptly repaired it in painless easy process. My oldest cable (Rel Spec) which is about 4 years old, I never had a problem. |
Thanks Joeyboynj for the info.
I am so impressed by the new Tesla cables that I want to complete my system with them.
Leica man , As you know the cables are expensive.
So please, do not be so negative about a simple question.
That is, from actual owners experience, how long have the LED's lasted ?
Additionally, Ted from Synergistic said they should last for 75,000 but he only has evidence of a set lasting for 50,000 hours.
That is why I am trying to find out what owners have experienced.
Here is Ted's comments from Synergistic.
"The life expectancy for LED's is dependent on many factors including voltage and operating temperature. When used in the Active Shielding circuit they are operating under ideal circumstances and should last 75,000 hours or more before needing to be replaced. For the record I had a pair of Alpha Sterling Active and Alpha Quad Active IC's and SC's in my home office system from the original X Series circa 2001 that were on continuously from 11. 01 through 11.06 without incident-nearly 50,000 hours. We have less then a 1% failure rate on LED's after an initial 100 hour period going back to the original X Series when LED's first appeared on our cables in 2001. If the LED"s are going to burn out they normally do so during the first 100 hours of life; after that they are good for thousands and thousands of hours". |
Do you all keep the active shield plug plugged into an outlet at ALL time? I just started using these active shield cables. I will be away from home for a week. Just wondering if I should keep them plugged in or if I should unplug them.
Did some research online the other day, and I remember reading somewhere that after "activating" the shield, it usually takes a few hours for it to settle before it reach 100% effectiveness. What are your experiences?
FrankC |
Gundam91, Most audio nuts (like me) will keep them powered on all the time. They take a few days (3-4) to get back to there best after being unplugged.
That being said however, Ted from Synergistic is recomending to unplug them for 12 hours a month to allow them to recharge.
But if your gone for a week, I would probably unplug them. |
I had two of these rascals burn out in rapid succession. Don't know what I did, but I think it was related to a broken miniplug extension cable. Anyway, you can replace the LEDs by stripping the shrink wrap off, soldering in a new LED, and re-shrinkwrapping. I replaced mine with red, but I think I'll need to bo back to the stock blue so one day I can sell the cables (with full disclosure, of course). If anyone knows what LED is stock, please let me know.
Somewhere above, Ozzy says that the LEDs are the active shielding. I think this is not the case. The LED is powered by the active shielding circiut, but I found 24V in the circuit even with the LED removed.
|
Der,
Replacing the LED's yourself can have a significant negative impact on the performance of Active Shielding. This is due to the fact the LED's are tied to resistors which not only load the Active Shielding circuit so the MPC does not burn out, but they (resistors, and led) have a direct impact on the sound of the cable when Active Shielding is turned "on"; the differences between LED's and different resistor types can spell the difference between great sound and hard and bright sound.
It is always best to have any such repairs performed at the factory.
Yours in music,
Ted Denney III |
Ted, in that case I am glad I asked about the LED. I'm reluctant to ship the cables back for a repair involving such simple and cheap stock parts when I can instead do it myself, save a few bucks on shipping, have almost zero system down-time, and also derive such satisfaction from being self-reliant.
But I don't find any markings on the LED to indicate just what it is, so I still hold out hope that you will tell me or otherwise enable me to do it at home. Please?? |
May I suggest simply phoning SR and explain your request to Eliott. They'll possibly sell you a pack of LED's at cost + a few bucks shipping. You may even get the OEM heat shrink too. However they'll not likely honor any existing warranties if you do a DIY repair.
These guys are among the best in the business to deal with in my experiences, very accomodating. Meeting Ted personally at Mike Holm's shop, when he demo'd his new Teslas, was an enjoyably memorable occasion indeed. |
I have contacted them, although not by phone. Synergistic certainly knows of my request. I suppose I'll just continue to take my chances. But I'm as likely to send the cables in for this simple repair as I am to ship a Ford back to Detroit for a new headlight. |
Der,
As you have already discovered replacing the LEDs is not a simple task. In your first post you state you already rebuilt the Active Shielding using red LED's. Then when I posted my response you seemed to recant from your original post implying the work was yet to be performed (at least this is how I read your first two posts).
I am not certain what is not being disclosed in your post but we would love to take a look at your cable and figure out why you had two LEDs go out on one cable. This is as rare as finding twenty-dollar bills on a busy sidewalk- it happens but not very often. In fact I just checked the company database and we had less then 20 such repairs for all of last year and none had more then one burned out cable so something is up. I suggest you call the factory on Monday and get an RMA. Let us have a look at your cable (and power supply) and we should be able to correct your problem same day and get your cable back to you right away.
Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc. |
NOW- That's what I'd call a very personal commitment to customer satisfaction. Another reason to love their products(aside from the excellent musical reproduction). |
Ted, I sure did not intend to racant anything. To be clear, I did replace the dead LEDs with red ones, as I said. My insistence on doing it myself with the correct LED refers to doing it a second time, this time with the OEM LED. I found the task to be very simple
If something is up with my gear, it is likely a problem with something other than the speaker cables, as the LEDS burned out in two cables, both times upon plugging them in after relocating things. I replaced the upstream mini-plug connector that was involved in both LED burn-outs, and also an MPC burn-out, as it turns out, and all seems to be in order now. I don't expect the red LEDs to last as long as blue ones, though, because the reds are relatively low intensity, low current, and low voltage compared to blue LEDs, and I left the original resisitor in place.
I prefer to be taught how to fish, as opposed to being given a fish. |
FYI, I must concur with Rodman, as Synergistic has offered to provide the LEDs by mail. Most accomodating. Thank you, Mr. Denney. |
Mine run a lot cooler after I put teflon tape on both ac prongs and ac pins of my LEDS! I do this to all my audio/video gear too. |
