Balanced Force 212 Subs are now in the house!

Yesterday marked another musical epiphany in my sound room. My installer with the help of my handy man hefted two massive square cartons into the house (the speakers weigh in at 140 lbs each!), and with the two of them grunting and straining, a pair of gloss piano black Martin Logan Balanced Force 212 subwoofers emerged.

These subs are not only gorgeous to behold but are the most thorough in terms of set up that I have ever owned (previous subs were the Descent and Descent-i). M-L offers a custom low-pass filter for just about every ESL that they have produced. I found the one for my CLX, downloaded it to the thumb drive that M-L provides and loaded onto each sub. [NB: A couple of caveats: (1) If your PC has its own microphone (and many do), disable it. (2) Be sure that that you name the Paradigm USB mike, exactly as the warning window that appears the first time you use it, "MartinLogan" or it will not make measurements.]

The fun part was using the PBK (Perfect Bass Kit) that consists of a microphone with adjustable stand and two very long USB/mini-USB cables, one going to a port on the sub and the other to a PC. An extraterrestrial bass ripple gets generated with each measurement (the mike is moved to 5 listening positions) and the PC displays the original frequency response with peaks and dips and the post-processed perfectly smooth curve that the speakers now produce. The whole operation took about 20 minutes (including mike relocation) for both subs.

Now for the revelation. I thought that I had excellent bass performance with the Descent-i (and I did) but the BF 212s are an entirely different beast. Listening to a Reference Recording HRx DVD-R (176.4 kHz/24-bit) recording of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (which has incredible bass), I appreciated the well-known finding that a good sub not only gets the bass right but adds dimension and clarity to the mid-range as well.

As a professional A/V reviewer, I am aware that there are plenty of high-performance subs out there, JL, Wilson, REL, Paradigm, but as the BF 212s are voiced and customizable for M-L speakers, it would be hard to beat their synergy with my CLX panels.

For those considering the addition of a sub or the upgrading of their current sub, the Balanced Force models should be at least auditioned. They have just started shipping so there may be a bit of wait but, believe me, it will be well worth it.

I haven't even got my Montis in the house yet...

and you have me wanting to upgrade my dual Depth i's. :ROFL:

I've got one 210 on order. Might get a 2nd one down the road, if I can find space for it in my room. Looking forward to dialing it in with the PBK, along with my XTZ Room Analyzer.

How easy was it for you to "dial in" the phase, as that's one of the parameters that PBK leaves alone?

sleepysurf said:

I've got one 210 on order. Might get a 2nd one down the road, if I can find space for it in my room. Looking forward to dialing it in with the PBK, along with my XTZ Room Analyzer.

How easy was it for you to "dial in" the phase, as that's one of the parameters that PBK leaves alone?

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I started out with Phase at 0 as recommended for my CLXs. Played around a bit since this very speaker placement dependent as you know. I went to 90 degrees (same as with my Descent-is) and thought that sounded best overall. The PBK is a snap to use once you get the Paradigm mike recognized by your PC. Nice part about it is that you redo it as the speaker breaks in. Great accessory and one that I think is essential for a sub of this class. I am going to add Dirac Live! to my Theta Casablanca surround processor. This virtually automates room EQ with high precision. This will probably take place in the next two months so the BF 212s should surely be broken in by then.

I am a firm believer in multiple subs for both audio and video (I have a pair of Descent-is in the rear of my room). Floyd Toole wrote the white paper on using multiple subs to eliminate the bass nodes and he was absolutely correct on that point.

babydoc said:

... I am a firm believer in multiple subs for both audio and video (I have a pair of Descent-is in the rear of my room). Floyd Toole wrote the white paper on using multiple subs to eliminate the bass nodes and he was absolutely correct on that point.

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Likewise, which is why I'd prefer a pair of 210's (placed ~mid side walls in my room). However, I'm battling space and WAF, so just starting off with one. Plus, with the Summits and 210, I'll have six 10" woofers in the room. I also have an old NHT Sub, so I can still measure what a 2nd sub will add with regard to room modes.

Looking forward to getting my 210 sometime next month!

babydoc said:

As a professional A/V reviewer, I am aware that there are plenty of high-performance subs out there, JL, Wilson, REL, Paradigm, but as the BF 212s are voiced and customizable for M-L speakers, it would be hard to beat their synergy with my CLX panels.

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Nice review, babydoc. I really like REL subs, and they were designed to go with a multitude of speakers. When it comes to a custom designed sub, tuned specifically to go with a certain speakers, you would expect superior performance over generic brands.

Congratulations with your new babies!!! My sound changed for good with only one BF210, I did download the file for the crossover point, and everything is working just fine. Happy listening!

One assumes this new sub product from ML works with other speakers. Correct?

GG

PS: babydoc, what publication(s) do you contribute to as a professional AV reviewer? Would love to read some of your reviews.

I have one of the 212's on order so I was excited to see your comments about it. Glad to know that it will be a really good sub.

Gordon Gray said:

One assumes this new sub product from ML works with other speakers. Correct?

GG

PS: babydoc, what publication(s) do you contribute to as a professional AV reviewer? Would love to read some of your reviews.

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I periodically write for Tone Audio and do most of writing for www.blu-raydefinition.com (byline is Lawrence D. Devoe, M.D.). On the latter website I do reviews of music and older film blu-rays, high resolution downloads, and audio/video equipment.

Hi Doc,

You must have a dedicated room, in addition to your main system room, for evaluating products.

Very well written reviews.

Gordon

Gordon Gray said:

Hi Doc,

You must have a dedicated room, in addition to your main system room, for evaluating products.

Very well written reviews.

Gordon

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Thanks Gordon for the comment. Actually I have three rooms for evaluating equipment. My main home theater/audio command center gets the most expensive units. A second smaller room gets mid-priced stuff. The third room, equivalent to a small dorm room gets bargain equipment.