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

[Robert D]

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.

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).

Sounds like you know all too well. The problem is that I am very particular about what I want in the new home and I think we will never find something that I am happy with. We do look on the MLS though. You never know. Its so frustrating how pre-exsiting homes are so much more affordable than building. There has always been a markup, but it was never this bad. We have built 2 homes already, including the one I am in now, so we know how it goes. The cost of building now has never been so bad, at least not in my adult life. Im 53.

 

[Robert D]

The moderator on here that goes by Rich convinced me that the Power Sound Audio subwoofers are very good, so I ordered one today. The brand has a very high reputation over at the AVS forum. I wont have them build it until about another 5 weeks, so that my chest has healed up before I start moving around a package that weighs 200 lbs. Tom, the owner is good to deal with. This is the sub I am getting:

https://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/21-subwoofers/products/s2112m-new?variant=40209359077465
Im going to order a Martin Logan wireless kit through Shawn at his Davinci Media. This is the one I need.
https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/swt-2-wireless-subwoofer-kit
The plan is to have the Power Sound Audio subwoofer up front where the Martin Logan is now and I will put the Martin Logan balanced force 210 behind the sofa for nearfield. This is exciting! My first time ever with more than one sub. The Power Sound Audio is a 21 inch woofer with nearly 2000 watts RMS and 4300 peak, so it should blow the top off this joint. Having the bf210 behind the sofa should really add some impact.

Ron at Martin Logan has been incredible to deal with, and as friendly as ever. Hats off to Martin Logan! My replacement amp board comes tomorrow, just 2 days after it was ordered. It is shipping all the way from Canada too. Talk about #1 customer service. Wow. All under warranty and no cost to me. Lightning fast response to me contacting them about my problem. Those of you doubting the customer service of Martin Logan since their acquisition can be assured that it remains strong today.

 

[Rich]

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.

Don’t I know it! I’m at the 11 month mark on mine. Framing is done. Mechanicals are almost done. Roof is almost finished and EIFS stucco is well on its way. We are getting ready for insulation and drywall. I don’t expect to be finished until the end of this year at the earliest. More likely spring of next year. Here’s where we are at right now…

 

[Gordon Gray]

To my ears the BF212 smokes every sub out there. Sure, a 21” outputs more expecially below 20hz. Above that, there is no Rel, JL or anything else near the shear excellence of ML subs.

Glad you like your ML subs. What REL subs have you heard and in what accompanying systems? Are you confident there where no setup / placement issues when you heard the REL's?

Robert, sorry to hear your sub and health issues. I also got one of those thingies inside of me.

 

[Robert D]

What REL subs have you heard and in what accompanying systems? Are you confident there where no setup / placement issues when you heard the REL's?

Robert, sorry to hear your sub and health issues. I also got one of those thingies inside of me.

I hope one of your leads doesn't go bad. Getting it out sucks.

 

[Robert D]

My daughter and I were able to replace the board in about 1 hour. Its not bad at all. Hardest part was getting the speaker cables off the terminals. Its hard to reach them, but we did and so we did not have to take any woofers out. It weighs I think 96 lbs and my wife and daughter were able to lift it up onto the kitchen counter for us to work on.

The parts only took 2 days to get to Ohio from Canada. Martin Logan took care of me.

 

[Robert D]

The subwoofer is doing it again, even with the new Amp board. Problem is exactly the same as before, so apparently the problem wasnt in the Amp board.

I sent Ron another email with the details. I will have to see what he says to try next. The only other parts in there I think are the top control board and the woofers themselves. I dont see a separate power supply anywhere, I think thats built into the amp board. What a mess.

 

[Robert D]

The problem on video so you can see and hear. Both woofers are thumping. This is with no audio signal at all, no RCA plug. I unplugged the power and then plugged it back in. It starts right up again. with no audio signal present. The problem is isolated to this speaker.

 

[Fidji99]

The problem on video so you can see and hear. Both woofers are thumping. This is with no audio signal at all, no RCA plug. I unplugged the power and then plugged it back in. It starts right up again. with no audio signal present. The problem is isolated to this speaker.


View attachment 24006

You should check the history of the land, where your house is built. It might be benign manifestation of some bored ghost ;-).

Good luck, and wishing you a speedy recovery.

Probably with amp module change you have reached the limits of what is serviceable at home. Let's hope ML customer service will not disappoint. I had faulty amp board on 1 of the D1600x [running hot and "hissing"] and I got it exchanged without any hassle too.

 

[ttocs]

The problem on video so you can see and hear. Both woofers are thumping. This is with no audio signal at all, no RCA plug. I unplugged the power and then plugged it back in. It starts right up again. with no audio signal present. The problem is isolated to this speaker.


View attachment 24006

Frustrating!

That's a classic R/C timing circuit sound. Resistor/Capacitor.

Something is charging and then releasing energy through the audio circuitry.

Is the crossover passive or active, powered in some way?
Maybe play with the crossover setting to see if it alters the thumping either in timing or pitch.

 

[Big Dog RJ]

My daughter and I were able to replace the board in about 1 hour. Its not bad at all. Hardest part was getting the speaker cables off the terminals. Its hard to reach them, but we did and so we did not have to take any woofers out. It weighs I think 96 lbs and my wife and daughter were able to lift it up onto the kitchen counter for us to work on.

The parts only took 2 days to get to Ohio from Canada. Martin Logan took care of me.

It's a real blessing to have the wife & daughter help out!

In my case, the wifey would be holding one leg and my daughter the other, then both would swing with all their might and off into the dog house!
Woof! RJ

 

[Robert D]

You should check the history of the land, where your house is built. It might be benign manifestation of some bored ghost ;-).

Good luck, and wishing you a speedy recovery.

Probably with amp module change you have reached the limits of what is serviceable at home. Let's hope ML customer service will not disappoint. I had faulty amp board on 1 of the D1600x [running hot and "hissing"] and I got it exchanged without any hassle too.

I've not changed the control panel, and have a new one Ron sent me. I can put it in but am going to wait to see what Ron says. When chatting in email with Ron, he said that the control panels hardly ever go out and he didn't even mention it as a problem. So I did not replace that.
To replace the control panel I have to remove a woofer and some more screws. Having my chest all torn up makes it hard now to do a lot. Luckily my wife and daughter were able to lift the 96lb speaker for me.
The control panel doesn't seem a likely culprit does it? Could it be a faulty woofer(s)? That seems really unlikely. I don't think there are any other parts in there.

 

[Robert D]

Frustrating!

That's a classic R/C timing circuit. Resistor/Capacitor.

Something is charging and then releasing energy through the audio circuitry.

Is the crossover passive or active, powered in some way?
Maybe play with the crossover setting to see if it alters the thumping either in timing or pitch.

I wondered about that, in the control panel. I tried turning knobs for gain and the bass boost. Doing that did not affect the frequency of the bump/flash. Decreasing the gain did make the bump sound much lower, almost to where you can't hear it but it's still there. The light flashes the same no matter what, and it's always synchronized with the bump.
Hopefully if I replace the control panel it will fix it? I've got a new one but didn't put it in because Ron didn't think it was the issue. With my chest all torn up, I'm trying not to do more than absolutely necessary. I emailed Ron last night.
I posted on here hoping some knowledgeable guys like you could lend me some knowledge. I don't know a whole lot about electronics. My education is limited to freshman college physics, and I took the pre-med version so it was easy with no calculus!

 

[Robert D]

Can't remember if I posted this, but right after we replaced the whole back amp panel the problem came back as soon as we plugged it in. Then after being powered up for about 30 seconds it stopped! I was ecstatic and figured the problem was solved. I played Enter Sandman at about 70 dB to test and it sounded like new with no bump or flash. After about 3 hours of TV play, it randomly started up again and here we are.

 

[Robert D]

It's a real blessing to have the wife & daughter help out!

In my case, the wifey would be holding one leg and my daughter the other, then both would swing with all their might and off into the dog house!
Woof! RJ

Lol! I'm lucky that I just had dangerous defibrillator lead extraction, because usually I'd be in the same boat as you. I can definitely get more loving attention now.

 

[Robert D]

Frustrating!

That's a classic R/C timing circuit sound. Resistor/Capacitor.

Something is charging and then releasing energy through the audio circuitry.

Is the crossover passive or active, powered in some way?
Maybe play with the crossover setting to see if it alters the thumping either in timing or pitch.

I just turned all of the knobs, one at a time from one extreme to the other. Nothing, not even the crossover, changed the tone or the rate of the beat. Seems about 60 bpm no matter what.
Turning the crossover, gain, and bass boost do raise and lower the volume of the beat but they do NOT change the rate or tone.

Maybe a problem in the control board is doing this? The ribbon wire connector that goes from the amp board to the control panel I replaced. That ribbon is integrated into the amp board. So that's new too. The only old thing in there is the control board and the 2 woofers.
I think there's only 4 parts: control board, amp board, and then 2 woofers. I don't see anything else inside.

 

[ttocs]

I just turned all of the knobs, one at a time from one extreme to the other. Nothing, not even the crossover, changed the tone or the rate of the beat. Seems about 60 bpm no matter what.
Turning the crossover, gain, and bass boost do raise and lower the volume of the beat but they do NOT change the rate or tone.

Maybe a problem in the control board is doing this? The ribbon wire connector that goes from the amp board to the control panel I replaced. That ribbon is integrated into the amp board. So that's new too. The only old thing in there is the control board and the 2 woofers.
I think there's only 4 parts: control board, amp board, and then 2 woofers. I don't see anything else inside.

Whichever board is the culprit should have a capacitor on it. I'm sure it's a capacitor that's causing the rhythmic timing.

Are you able to post photos showing the electronic parts on the boards?

 

[Russr]

Just checking that you mentioned in your mail to Ron the summarized version of your observations. Especially the bit about changes in Gain propagating through to what you're hearing. I think that will help him narrow things down.

 

[Robert D]

Whichever board is the culprit should have a capacitor on it. I'm sure it's a capacitor that's causing the rhythmic timing.

Are you able to post photos showing the electronic parts on the boards?

Later today I can try that. The only problem I think is that both the control and amp board pretty much are sealed up, so you can't see what's inside the box. A bit like how they make under the hood of a car now. I'll take a look. I've got the replacement control panel sitting out free that I can view.

 

[Robert D]

Just checking that you mentioned in your mail to Ron the summarized version of your observations. Especially the bit about changes in Gain propagating through to what you're hearing. I think that will help him narrow things down.

I think I mentioned it, but unsure at this point. I do know he saw this thread earlier, so he can come back to see again. I sent him the video.