Well, my BF 210 has a big problem and I purchased it new in July 2021. Here is what it is doing.

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I’ve never had subs last this long…let alone sound this good. IMO the days of a sub lasting 20 years are gone. Our content, room size and expectations have grown with crap power.

Friendly tip…always make sure that plate amp is connected to a surge suppressor. Yes, they do nothing if lightning actually strikes your house, but I do believe if you just plug it straight into the wall your speed up it’s failure
Yeah, everything I have is plugged into a power conditioner. I use two Furman's.

https://furmanpower.com/product/conditioner-power-ht-15a-power-factor/
 
Yeah, everything I have is plugged into a power conditioner. I use two Furman's.

https://furmanpower.com/product/conditioner-power-ht-15a-power-factor/
Ok then maybe just try this if you feel up to it.

The other night one of my 212s would shut off instantly to red then come back on then off then on. Not sure if like yours. It had to do with just an input though. Anyway, I used metal polish and cleaned the RCAs. MAYBE yours are conducting something somehow that is tripping the auto functions.

Maybe worth a shot? Probably not the fix but I’m only trying to help
 
Ok then maybe just try this if you feel up to it.

The other night one of my 212s would shut off instantly to red then come back on then off then on. Not sure if like yours. It had to do with just an input though. Anyway, I used metal polish and cleaned the RCAs. MAYBE yours are conducting something somehow that is tripping the auto functions.

Maybe worth a shot? Probably not the fix but I’m only trying to help
Thanks for the idea. I'm using the 12 volt trigger, so the audio signal sensor isn't needed. The problem also happens when the switch is to ON and there is nothing plugged in at all. It's probably either a power supply or amp. I'm leaning toward power because the blue logo on top blinks on off on off.
 
I was just about to write a msg very much like T-Bone... not sure what the weather is like where you are at. Here in Houston, we get pop-up thunderstorms all the time. The closest utility switch-yard to me gets hit pretty much every time. I used to lose electronics with infuriating regularity... "smart" light switches, network routers/switches, on one occasion the power supply to my Earthquake Supernova Mk IV sub and ML SL3/Aerius power supplies in one go.

I put most of the smaller-draining devices (including MLs) on decent surge suppressors (or even UPS's if I had them spare. A couple of years back I installed a whole-house surge suppressor (Siemens), and haven't had a single fatality since.

If you don't have a whole-house suppressor, I highly recommend it.. mine cost $240 plus $120 to install (took the electrician like 5 minutes, but it was worth it).

RobertD, if you can find come to an arrangement with ML, and have some local, technically capable resource remove the boards, maybe ML with change out ALL the electronics in one go, in lieu of the PIA shipping XYZ 100 pounds around the country!

Good luck
 
I was just about to write a msg very much like T-Bone... not sure what the weather is like where you are at. Here in Houston, we get pop-up thunderstorms all the time. The closest utility switch-yard to me gets hit pretty much every time. I used to lose electronics with infuriating regularity... "smart" light switches, network routers/switches, on one occasion the power supply to my Earthquake Supernova Mk IV sub and ML SL3/Aerius power supplies in one go.

I put most of the smaller-draining devices (including MLs) on decent surge suppressors (or even UPS's if I had them spare. A couple of years back I installed a whole-house surge suppressor (Siemens), and haven't had a single fatality since.

If you don't have a whole-house suppressor, I highly recommend it.. mine cost $240 plus $120 to install (took the electrician like 5 minutes, but it was worth it).

RobertD, if you can find come to an arrangement with ML, and have some local, technically capable resource remove the boards, maybe ML with change out ALL the electronics in one go, in lieu of the PIA shipping XYZ 100 pounds around the country!

Good luck
I use those power conditioners and have a whole house suppressor as well. I watched Empire Strikes Back and it was fine the whole time. About 30 minutes after that, while watching cable, the sound randomly started in.
I will update this thread to let everyone know what happens in the end. I guess I'm lucky that the sub crapped out early while the warranty is still active, only owning it since July 2021.
 
Well, Ron is handling everything from his end as usual. Very fast to email me back and tell me that I have a failed "amp plate" on the back. It sounds like everything is incorporated into that. So he is going to send me a new one and I will replace it on my own. Shouldnt be too hard to do. Once it comes in the mail, I will scoot the speaker on the floor so that I can access the back panel from the room. Right now the panel is facing the wall. Ill just have to lay on the floor and work on it. By that time my surgery will be more than a week old and healed up decent. Ill be ok as long as I dont try to lift a bunch of weight. My wife can help me rotate it too I think.
Ron sent me the directions on how to remove the amp plate, and its very simple. I will follow up on this thread once I have the work all done.
 
Great to hear, Robert!

So, the old "Work smart" adage applies here!
A couple of questions/tips:

What kind of flooring is the amp on? If carpet, get a short (12"-18") dowel/stick/lever. Have some pieces of cardboard handy (cut up old Amazon boxes or something like that). Making sure not to be pushing against anything delicate, and preferably with some padding (carpet off-cuts or folded up tea-towels between the lever & the lower edge(s) of the sub) slide the cardboard under each foot. That should make it easy to rotate/move away from the wall. Leave the cardboard in place until you have completed repairs and tested the sub. When done, rotate the sub back into place, lever the 3 visible sides up and pull the cardboard out.

This technique works on all floor types, BUT if you're on hardwood, try put something between your lever & the floor to avoid scratching/scuffing the floor.

If you have sufficient space, use a slightly longer lever to reduce the effort you/the Mrs have to exert to lift the sub up enough to position the sliders under the feet.

Lastly, have ayour phone camera handy, and take pics from multiple angles of the board and all cables that connect onto it... Try for close-ups of each wired connector that youu have to detach from the old board & attach to the new one. Sometimes the only difference between one cable and another is a faint "interrupted line"... all other characteristics (including color) might be the same!

Good luck!
 
Well, Ron is handling everything from his end as usual. Very fast to email me back and tell me that I have a failed "amp plate" on the back. It sounds like everything is incorporated into that. So he is going to send me a new one and I will replace it on my own. Shouldnt be too hard to do. Once it comes in the mail, I will scoot the speaker on the floor so that I can access the back panel from the room. Right now the panel is facing the wall. Ill just have to lay on the floor and work on it. By that time my surgery will be more than a week old and healed up decent. Ill be ok as long as I dont try to lift a bunch of weight. My wife can help me rotate it too I think.
Ron sent me the directions on how to remove the amp plate, and its very simple. I will follow up on this thread once I have the work all done.
That's great news!

You should already be well versed about this, but I take the standpoint of saying it just to be sure.

Your circulatory system is basically akin to hydraulic machinery. So it's not so much how heavy something is, or if you're lifting or not lifting, it's all about the amount of exertion involved. The weakest link is what can "pop" when pressure builds beyond capacity. Just sayin'.

May your recovery proceed with great success!
Scott
 
Great to hear, Robert!

So, the old "Work smart" adage applies here!
A couple of questions/tips:

What kind of flooring is the amp on? If carpet, get a short (12"-18") dowel/stick/lever. Have some pieces of cardboard handy (cut up old Amazon boxes or something like that). Making sure not to be pushing against anything delicate, and preferably with some padding (carpet off-cuts or folded up tea-towels between the lever & the lower edge(s) of the sub) slide the cardboard under each foot. That should make it easy to rotate/move away from the wall. Leave the cardboard in place until you have completed repairs and tested the sub. When done, rotate the sub back into place, lever the 3 visible sides up and pull the cardboard out.

This technique works on all floor types, BUT if you're on hardwood, try put something between your lever & the floor to avoid scratching/scuffing the floor.

If you have sufficient space, use a slightly longer lever to reduce the effort you/the Mrs have to exert to lift the sub up enough to position the sliders under the feet.

Lastly, have ayour phone camera handy, and take pics from multiple angles of the board and all cables that connect onto it... Try for close-ups of each wired connector that youu have to detach from the old board & attach to the new one. Sometimes the only difference between one cable and another is a faint "interrupted line"... all other characteristics (including color) might be the same!

Good luck!
Great tips. Lucky for me, it's on a hardwood floor. I think I'll just put cardboard under the feet. Right now I have rubber pads that I'll pull our. Taking pictures is smart. Looks like all I have to disconnect is the two speaker wires and a ribbon cable.

Sounds like the part will be mailed to me by tomorrow or Thursday.

Every time I have contact with Martin Logan they impress me. Perhaps the 1600x sub is still in the running for a 2nd sub that will be nearfield.

I'm also considering Power Sound Audio. Many prefer them for home theater. The company is here in Ohio and has a five year warranty. I'm thinking about chosing between these two.

https://www.powersoundaudio.com/products/s1512-new
https://www.powersoundaudio.com/products/tv2410m-new
I bet having the two woofers stacked would be good nearfield since it gets at least one speaker close to my head. Placed behind the couch.
 
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Thoughts? I won't ordering anything until about another 5 weeks, because I have to wait on my surgery wound to heal. Scar tissue has to form around the wire, and that acts kinda like cement to hold it in place. This is the 4th time I've had the same site cut open.
 
I bet having the two woofers stacked would be good nearfield since it gets at least one speaker close to my head. Placed behind the couch.
Keep in mind that the near-field sub is at a very low volume level. Really low. Lots of power is not needed, but, size is. This is where size can help a lot with extending the low freqs.

And yes, I've tested near-field, but it didn't work well enough for music, which is my primary concern.
 
Keep in mind that the near-field sub is at a very low volume level. Really low. Lots of power is not needed, but, size is. This is where size can help a lot with extending the low freqs.

And yes, I've tested near-field, but it didn't work well enough for music, which is my primary concern.
I wonder what PSA means by "in-room extension "? The 15 inch says 7-14 hz, and the dual 12 inch says 10-12 hz.
The frequency response goes down to 19hz in the 15 inch and 14hz in the dual 12 inch.
 
I wonder what PSA means by "in-room extension "? The 15 inch says 7-14 hz, and the dual 12 inch says 10-12 hz.
The frequency response goes down to 19hz in the 15 inch and 14hz in the dual 12 inch.
In-room extension takes into account the effects of room gain. The standard sub frequency response is measured as if you had the sub outside, with no room boundary interaction. But when you put the sub in a room, the walls of the room act to boost certain frequencies and can result in lower extension. How much depends on the size and shape of the room, among other variables. The in-room extension numbers just give you an idea of what the sub can achieve in an enclosed room.
 
In-room extension takes into account the effects of room gain. The standard sub frequency response is measured as if you had the sub outside, with no room boundary interaction. But when you put the sub in a room, the walls of the room act to boost certain frequencies and can result in lower extension. How much depends on the size and shape of the room, among other variables. The in-room extension numbers just give you an idea of what the sub can achieve in an enclosed room.
Ok, makes sense. So in-room is more of a real world test and the standard freq response is more of a lab test?

My room is about 4000 cubic feet. 20 feet wide x22 feet deep x9 foot ceiling. Its a family room though and about 60% or so of the right wall is open to the kitchen and the kitchen is open to the dining room through a doorway. So theres that to deal with too. So I guess the room would feel a bit bigger than the 4000 cubic feet because of how open the right wall is? The right side of the room basically just has a short wall on each side of an opening ,and the rear part has my side surround speaker in it.
 
Here is the right side wall area.

family room.jpg
 
Yes, the big opening to larger spaces greatly increases the cubic footage that your subs are trying to pressurize. I suppose it might actually help reduce your room modes though.
 
Yes, the big opening to larger spaces greatly increases the cubic footage that your subs are trying to pressurize. I suppose it might actually help reduce your room modes though.
Yeah. I measured the room again today and its only 20ft x 20ft, so its square. That creates problems Im told, but with that open wall it probably does away with that?
 
Yeah. I measured the room again today and its only 20ft x 20ft, so its square. That creates problems Im told, but with that open wall it probably does away with that?
Square enclosed rooms are the worst possible in terms of room modes in the bass. However, an opening that large will mitigate some axial modes that would have involved that wall, but then all the other axis with parallel walls or reflections arriving off other surfaces will still contribute to nasty modes.

In a room that shape and size, I'd go for the four subs in the corners layout identified by Harman (and my) research. Obviously, the ideal would be 4x 212's, but given that each would not be pushed too hard, 4x Dyanamo 1600x or even 1100x would do fine.
IIRC, your Marantz supports SubHT, which will apply volume and delay adjustments between the two sub outs, so just place the two front subs on Sub Out 1 and the two rears on Sub out 2. Audyssey (use the iOS app) will sort them out.

In a year or two, you can upgrade the Marantz to one of the latest models that supports four independent sub-outs and Driac DLBC / ART technologies that will totally leverage 4 units and make that cube-dimensioned room sound its best.
 
Square enclosed rooms are the worst possible in terms of room modes in the bass. However, an opening that large will mitigate some axial modes that would have involved that wall, but then all the other axis with parallel walls or reflections arriving off other surfaces will still contribute to nasty modes.

In a room that shape and size, I'd go for the four subs in the corners layout identified by Harman (and my) research. Obviously, the ideal would be 4x 212's, but given that each would not be pushed too hard, 4x Dyanamo 1600x or even 1100x would do fine.
IIRC, your Marantz supports SubHT, which will apply volume and delay adjustments between the two sub outs, so just place the two front subs on Sub Out 1 and the two rears on Sub out 2. Audyssey (use the iOS app) will sort them out.

In a year or two, you can upgrade the Marantz to one of the latest models that supports four independent sub-outs and Driac DLBC / ART technologies that will totally leverage 4 units and make that cube-dimensioned room sound its best.
Thanks. Right now with the one sub in right front it sounds good. I'm not aware of problems with modes, but I'm not educated on using rew or other software like that. I'm treating the room now as a sort of temporary thing since we are wanting to build a new home. I don't want to spend a ton of $$ on what I have now. I'm thinking I might just pick up one more sub and put it nearfield behind where I sit on the couch. So the subs would be diagonal to where I sit. Front right corner and then just left of center behind the couch. That should improve bass a lot more and get me by for a few years?

Still waiting for building prices to come back down to earth. Prices still amazingly high with this inflation. Interest rates will be raised more soon by the fed, so relief should come. We refuse to pay these high prices for building a home.
 
So the subs would be diagonal to where I sit. Front right corner and then just left of center behind the couch. That should improve bass a lot more and get me by for a few years?
That would definitely help. Then design a room in the new home with appropriate ratios, but even with, as I discovered, one needs a minimum of two subs to combat the inevitable room modes. Design for front-center and rear-center placements. Or go all out with four in the corners.
Still waiting for building prices to come back down to earth.
Yep, and availability of materials and staff. A home 1/4 mile from me has been under construction for >14 months, and it looks like move-in won't happen for another couple of months.

So if you spot an existing home for sale with close to what you want, it might make sense to evaluate, as the stress and aggravation of building, along with the time, are a cost as well. I know, my build took 14 months, and cost 70% more than budget (some of that self-inflicted).
 

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