mittg

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I am using the dynamo in my 2 channel system for the left channel only. The dynamo is musical,tight and fast. It is set up as a down firing sub. Although it can be set up as a front firing sub. On the right channel is an M & K kx-12 sub. Testing has been done with pipe organ music, Dagda, Pink Floyd and for some really synthesized very low sounds, lustmord "the place where the dark stars hang". The Dynamo is not boomy. It is precise with jazz bass notes. Very pleasing to the ear. The only negative is that there are no speaker outs. The sub is hooked to the preamp then power amp.

victemizer

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $599.00 from Magnolia Hi-Fi

Summary:
I usually read these reviews and see a lot of 4's and 5's. I usually think "there is someone who wants to think they made a good purchase".

So here I go. When I was looking for a sub, I only wanted to spend around $500. I listened to all of the subs in that price range, but didn't like ANYTHING I heard. I started listening to subs in the $1000 range for comparison purposes. I was real close to buying a M&K when I first heard the Dynamo. Holly smokes was I impressed! Nice tight bass when listening to music, loud booming explosions when watching movies. What more could I want? Maybe a larger driver... While you get nice tight accurate response from this little unit, you don't get that "feeling" you get when there is big hit. Lets face it a larger driver pushes lot more air. Here is the catch. The subs with larger drivers in this price range tend to "rumble" after the note, or explosion should have been long over. So... We are back to a sub over $1000 to get that tightness.

I did find plenty of subs that I liked better, but none were under $1000. So I will qualify my rating by classifying it as the "under $1000" class. If you are looking for the BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK, this is it!!!

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I've got to say, i've used many subwoofers. some large, some small, some highly rated, some not so highly rated. If you have $600 to invest in a sub, look no further. The Martin Logan Dynamo is small but EXTREMELY powerfull. It out performs a 600 watt 15" Wharfedale sub without breaking a sweat. It's super small so the wife factor is not an issue. And it sounds incredible with music and movies. Let it break in for the recommende 30 hours before you submise your final judgement. But, I have to tell you, even out of the box, not broken in, it sounds great, and just gets better and better. For the same price of a Klipsch RW-12 (or was it RSW? Don't remember) the ML Dynamo smokes the klipsch. I did a side by side. The Klipsch is easily twice as large, twice the power and contains a 12" woofer, and the ML just kills it. I highly recommend!

Strengths:
You want QUALITY LOW BASS??? You have it with this sub!!

Weaknesses:
heh... "It's too small for the male ego"
Such a small cube with such a HUGE SOUND!!

Weaknesses, NONE!

Similar Products Used:
wharfedale, sony, JBL (JUNK), Athena, Klipsch, M&K (Great stuff if you can get your hands on it....)

wafflebird

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $599.00 from Sound Advice

Summary:
This sub is the end of a progression for my bedroom system. I had recently progressed from a Kenwood receiver to a Pioneer. The Kenwood did not have an RCA sub out. In had recently purchased a Velodyne VX-10 sub which I had hooked up via speaker wires. Once I updated my new Pioneer receiver it was evident that the VX-10 just wasn't doing it for me. I did have it hooked up properly via the sub out, it just really did not have much output and I had to have the gain turned up almost all the way. So off on a quest I went. Took the VX-10 back to Sound Advice and looked earnestly at all of their small subs. I needed small due to the placement options in the bedroom. I nearly left because nothing really was doing it for me but was caught by one of the Salesmen I have known there for years and he asked "Have you looked at this yet" pointing to the Dynamo. Well no I hadn't. Now it is from Martin Logan which is like saying Mercedes Benz. I did not even really listen to the one they had hooked up because it was out in the wide open. I took a chance and took it home. It won't be going back or leaving my system. This sub is very, very refined. The ability to make it forward or down-firing is a very nice feature. This sub is so good for music after I placed it in my bedroom system I found myself listening to music more and more in my bedroom instead of my main HT room. The sub came packaged very well and was very protected. It is hefty for it’s' size. The quality of the control knobs and the equipment on the control panel is first rate to put it mildly. The resistance of the knobs you feel when you turn them defines quality, and the dials themselves are machined from metal, not plastic as the majority of subs these days, regardless of the manufacturer. Martin Logan includes carper spikes as well as rubber feet for the base plate of the sub. The base plate has 4 posts that the sub rests on. You can remove the base plate and rotate the sub 90 degrees and convert it from forward firing to downward firing. The posts then use the same holes that the grill uses when it is set up as forward firing. The manual tells you to give the sub 50 hours before doing any critical listening, but it sounds fantastic right out of the box. Although I do believe it did get even better after 50-100 hours. Let me tell you one thing, for music in this price-range there is not even a worthy competitor. This sub makes it as if the bass player is in your room with you. Every note is detailed to the point that if you close your eyes you can see the bass strings being played, it is simply that accurate. For movies it is great also, especially for a small to medium sized room. It is not however the end all HT subwoofer. It is only a 200 watt sub. It puts out plenty of clean tight well defined bass, it reproduces everything that is there (down to about 20Hz in my room) and adds nothing else to it. But it will not wallop you like the big 14" 1800 watt sub I have in my main room. But what it does with 200 watts is simply astounding. I originally had it behind a large armoire but it actually shook the backing panel loose and was causing a buzzing sound due to this piece vibrating, so I had to reposition it. If you are looking for a GREAT sub in this size and price-range I can tell you look no further. I have had this sub for over a year and I still smile every time I just look at it, it brings me that much joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strengths:
This subs true strength is its phenomenal musical reproduction, it misses nothing and adds nothing, it is deadly accurate. A lot of subs in this price-range will take a good fast bassist material and just simply smear it together, with no specific note distinction. Not this little Dynamo, it catches EVERYTHING and belts it out with absolute precision. For movies it does equally well as long as you are not asking it to produce insane volume levels and sub 20 Hz material. Bear in mind that this sub is sealed, and it has only a 200 watt amp. Since it is not a ported design the driver must fight with the internal cabinet volume while it is moving in and out, there are no ports for the air to move freely in and out. Generally this makes the sub more accurate, but the sealed designs usually give up a little in sheer output. But this little Dynamo can still rock your world. This sub also made me have more appreciation for some bassist that I really never given that much credit to before. When a sub can point this out to you, you know it is great. This sub is extremely tight, when a drum is whacked, this sound is accurately reproduced with the same tightness. Bass guitars are accurately reproduced, you can hear the distinction when the bassist goes between open and closed notes as well as how tight he is gripping the strings!!!!! Now that is accurate.

What impressed me at the store was actually how stiff the driver is, since the driver cone is solid aluminum, with care one should take, I pushed in on the driver on the demo unit. I was astounded at how stiff the driver was. Not just the material of the cone but the stiffness of the surround as well. I knew this coupled with the name Martin Logan was a good thing.

I am not really sure what the issue was with the first poster and his issue he had, but by all means do not let that one vague post steer you away, as you would be missing out on one of the true little masterpiece subs out there today!!!!

Weaknesses:
The only real weakness in my opinion is the fact that you do not have a variable phase dial, only a selewctor switch for 0-90-180. Since this sub is so very good for music this would be a very nice additional feature. Other than that there is no weakness in my mind. I intend on having this little gem for a long time, I am simply in love with it.

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne DLs-3750R (initial main listening room sub) Velodyne VX-10
New sub in main room Def-Tech Supercube Reference.
If you can swing it check out Martin Logans' other subs as well, Descent, Grotto, and Depth. All of these are really great subs as well.

audiomarc1

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
2.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
Very well built subwoofer with many parts and most of the technology taken from the upper line (Grotto, Depth, Descent) of ML subs. Has the same 10" aluminum driver found in all the upper subs. Designed and engineered in the US by ML and built in China to keep costs down. Audio products manufactured in China has become a brilliant move to keep costs down. If a product is engineered by the company and the parts are supplied by the company, there is no down side to being manufactured in China. BTW, China has some pretty good engioneers of there own...never look down on the "Asian Option". I compared the Dynamo ($600) head to head with the ML Grotto ($1200) and found that they both sounded great. The Grotto adds a servo circuit, a tad better cabinet and a little more power (250 wpc vs. 200 wpc) but in the long run, I could not justify the price difference ($600).

The Dynamo has deep, tight bass with no boom. It blends seamlessly with all speakers that I have tried. If set up correctly and this is easy to do, you cannot tell where the sub is located in your room. I ma using it for 2 channel audio but it can work well for home theater as well...although I think you would be wasting its potential here! it also has the option of front firing and down firing by just rotating it on its platform/stand. Either position sounded good and is a personal choice. I also did not miss the servo circuit. The servo would have been more important if the Dynamo had a larger driver (12" - 18") due to the inherent distortion issues with large drivers. An 8" - 10" driver does not have as many of these issues...hence the servo circuit not missed much.

I have it working in unison with a pair of the new Spendor S3/5 se monitors and the Dynamo disappears allowing the Spendors to image and soundstage like the champs they are along with the missing deep/tight bass. This pair lists for $2100 and rivals full range speakers costing much..much more!

You cannot go wrong with the Dynamo for some of the best quality bass at the best price available today.

Strengths:
Build quality. Deep, tight bass...no boom here. Blends seamlessly with every speaker I tried. Easy to set up. Great set up instructions furnished by ML. Price. And a product designed and supported by one of the best speaker builders in the world. Call ML anytime and they will answer any question and make suggestions on proper set up, etc.

5 stars for performance vs. price (Value)
5 stars for satisfaction (Overall)

Weaknesses:
I would have preferred that whether you choose front firing or down firing, the amp controls would be easily accessible. When in front firing position, the controls are on the bottom. However, once set up, this should not be a problem.

Similar Products Used:
ML Grotto, JM Labs, REL, Velodyne.