Customer Ratings & Reviews

This was my third exchange, thinking that I had a faulty subwoofer. I still have problem with the subwoofer. I had the Geek squad comes three times to take a look at it, and they just said bad connections or faulty wires. But they didn’t do anything about it cuz they weren’t sure. So my subwoofer still have a popping sound as it goes on and off when I watch movies.

This subwoofer is not on all the time. It only comes in when needed. When it does come on it pops. It also pops sometimes when it goes inactive. I contacted the factory and they were no help. You would expect better from a product this pricey.

Watch you tube Video on This sub and Believe it! Because It truly will start (SMOKING) acts like it is going to catch on Fire, Woke up in the middle of the Nite to a BUZZING only to find it once again SMOKING Fire Hazard I believe!!!!! SUB = TRASH

Owned for two months. Its a very smooth sub. Can't quite dip low as Id like it to go but none the less its a good piece of kit. It has adequate power but can struggle at high volumes and will fall on its face sometimes. The amp heat sink will cook an egg on just one bass heavy song at moderate-high volumes ("The Mountains Will Fall" - DJ Shadow, for example) which concerns me a little considering the past reviews of amplifier failure after a year or two. It handles movies with low heat and plenty of heft with ease though. I would have given it 5 stars because its build quality leaves a little to be desired. Its construction does not seem to be any better than say a $250-350 sub. In fact, when removing the grill, the rubber feet pull out of the front face exposing MDF board. Thats doesn't leave a good impression for a company the likes of Martin Logan. Cheap rubber feet that can be glued back in, I know. But still. I paid $500 for a MARTIN LOGAN subwoofer, even being entry level. If I wanted to pick up the building process and maintenance from the factory I would have bought a Dayton Audio subwoofer kit.

Had it 2 days before it made loud exploding noises under normal use. Best Buy is sending a replacement which they will install. Very good customer service. Would recommend because of the brand name and other good reviews.

Had home theater system set up. First attempt with this product failed and had to be returned. Second one worked for awhile and now is once again broken. Won't even turn on.

I'm getting a loud booming noise periodically, even when it's off.

The subwoofer not working as expected let me know how to contact to get it fixed

did not handle well with my system. Worst sub for only system!!

After several weeks of reviewing specs and opinions, I found my sub. The Definitive Tech Sub 1000 seemed just right for my budget, my needs and it had a 300 watt RMS amplifier. So I brought my Polk SW 202 sub to Magnolia and wired it into their system so i could compare it to my new sub before buying. On my short list was the Def Tech Sub1000 (already decided winner, but wanted to do a healthy comparison), klipsch sw450 and Mirage Omni 8". I never even considered the MartinLogan Dynamo 500. That is until i accidentally flipped it on at the magnolia show room, trying to find what input I had wired my sub into into. WOW!! is all I can say. What sub is that, and how much does it cost. So i went around the room feeling the cabinets to find the monster. As i am walking around I am just blown away at the sound, fearing when I did find it, it would be $800+. But I had to find it. Once I found the Dynamo 500 and saw the price and the power rating i was blown away. How is it possible? 120 watts compared to the sub 1000's 300 watts??? How could this little monster be so much lower and fuller sounding than the Def tech. Amazing. Being a skeptic and not to be fooled easily i matched all 3 subs, My polk, the sub 1000 and the dynamo to the same levels as far as I could tell and played back the same sequence of video at least 12 times in the magnolia theater room. Switching back and forth between these three and every time, in every seen the Martin Logan matched and often exceeded the sub 1000 to my ears. I could feel the ML 500 in my chest and clothing during the torpedo seen in U-571, and bus crashing into the airplane in Speed. I could hear the bass just fine on the sub 1000, and don't get me wrong it is a fine sub...definately better than my polk. But it just did not go down to the level of the ML 500, evidenced to me by the "feel" of the bass that was lacking in the sub 1000. And that is what I was after, not just the boom but the heavy rumble of a top quality subwoofer. After getting it home and dialed in with the help of my Pioneer VSX-03TXH I could not be happier. The bass is loud and strong when you have the volume up high, but still audible and surprisingly deep at the the lower volumes too. Excellent for movies, games and music too. Our Family room is very large, about 18x20 with 19 ft ceilings and this sub fills it. Of course you can always have more, but again for the price I could not ask for more. Very impressed and glad I happened upon this wonderful subwoofer. In the sub $500 area, this one is hard to beat. Don't be fooled by the numbers. Let your ears do the talking, that is after all what buying speakers is all about, not how many watts the box says. Unless you are going to frame the box and put it on display, who cares. When your guests admire the sound of your home theater...they wont care how many watts were on the box, and neither will you. Buy it now so you can enjoy your movies the way they were meant to be.

Let me start by saying that the 500 isn't a bad sub, but it wasn't what I would expect at this price range. Sure you can crank it and it will fill the room with boomy bass, but it will also distort. The biggest thing missing with this sub is what I call chest thump. Basically that first shockwave feeling of an explosion. It's just not there with the 500, however the aftershock BOOM will fully satisfy, albeit with some straining distortion. Music is always tough on a sub, and it is particularly tough on the 500. Bass was almost non-existent unless I cranked it. The problem here isn't that the sub is inherently bad all around, but unless you get a good discount (which I've heard happens), this just isn't worth retail. It sounds much like subs that are a few hundred less. That being said, I exchanged out for the Dynamo 700w. Why the 700? Because I was thoroughly impressed with everything else about the 500, it's a beautiful piece. The 700 is sealed and more powerful. Yes it is $200 more, and yes I understand that strains a budget, but it is 10 times the sub the 500 is. (not to mention wireless) So there you have it. If you need to see the difference between tight bass and boomy bass I encourage you to test the 500 with the Depth Charged scene in U-571. I found that the afterboom of the charges was fine, but the initial shock was gone. On the 700, it was ALL there.

It keeps shutting off. Will need a replacement NOW.

I was in the market for a full set of speakers for our home theatre system and I was pretty much set on building our system out of Definitive Technology's speakers. I was almost ready to check out at our local Best Buy store when an associate stopped me to ask if I had given these Martin Logan speakers a listen. I told him that I hadn't, and he proceeded to give me a demo. Let me tell you, I was absolutely floored. I knew right then and there that I would not be building my system out of Def. Tech, but Martin Logan instead. The cabinet is fairly small in size considering it houses a 10 inch subwoofer. However, it is definitely NOT short on sound. This subwoofer delivers huge room filling sound that is crystal clear, with not even a hint of muddiness that you find in other "lesser" subwoofers. The installation and setup was as easy as you could hope for. If you are in the market for a subwoofer for your home theatre system, you absolutely owe it to yourself to head down to a local Magnolia store and give this one a listen. Simply fantastic. I also added the Martin Logan Motion 4's as my front speakers and the Motion 6 as my center channel. The sound is simply mind blowing for the money spent. I plan on adding a set of Martin Logan Motion 2's for my rear surrounds to finish everything off.

I have all B&W speakers on my system except the sub I pick Martin Logan. The Dynamo 500 handles the bass deeper and stronger than the B&W 200W Sub. It handles the powerful bass without shaking or moving its body compared to the B&W. The bass is deep, smooth, and clear in a normal and higher volume. Thanks to the two holes on the back that pump out the bass deep and smooth and help to stabilize the body weight and sound in contrast to the B&W sub that built without the holes. Martin Logan makes better subs than the B&W.

This sub is a great addition to my home theater system. I have had this for over 3 years now and haven't had any issues. It packs a punch and is worth every cent you spend.

This does the job! It adds a fullness of sound that can make everything in the room vibrate, if we want it too.

And that's a good thing for a sub woofer My wife wasn't convinced we needed one, but let me have my toy anyways. Well she's a converted believer. I have some old JBL LX600 speakers that I had reconditioned so they still sound great, however never had that really deep bass. After talking with the sales guy, he directed me toward MartinLogan Dynamo 500, even above some of the other subs that cost a couple hundred dollars more. Said I'd probably have to double the price to get better, and after getting it home and hooked up I'd have to agree. Adds deep rich bass to movies, and music. Ir's really easy to setup, and fits in well with my speakers.I'm running it off a Denon AVR3312CI, with 2 - JBL LX600 front speakers, 2 JBL Pro II rear's and a JBL Center. Sound fits in perfectly.

So I was torn when I bought this sub, I was looking at SVS on line and reading reviews on all types of subs. I Hate buying something with out hearing it first. I think that was my main reason for buying the ML 500, this sub hits hard and has the ability to play musical bass tighter than say the super cube. I actually bough two thinking that the sub was going to be to small to replace the 12 definitive technologies sub that I was replacing. To my surprise this sub put out more bass than I ever thought that it could making my old sub look like a under achiever. "this is a great little sub could not be happier" and didn't have to spend 1k to get the bass I was looking for.

got a new ultra hd 4k tv,needed a new receiver for the tv, old sub wouldn't hook up to the new receiver so I bought this one over a DT that id listened to at the same time...got my dynamo 500 today, hooked it up and instantly got the bass id been missing...taking it easy on the sub till I break it in...playing around with the EQ on the receiver when i have a chance...ill report on the development of the ML dynamo 500 as i break it in...so far its what i was expecting...nice addition to my new set up...

It has been about 6 months I have this product. The sound quality was initially little suppressed as the manufacturer mentions that these are built with high quality materials and they have a break in period. Once I crossed these period what a quality sound it delivers. I have heard Bose and others but none are close to the quality ML delivers. I run this sub with ML electrostats and they sound amazing. If you set up the system properly, you will almost 'see' the sound distinctly with these speakers. At this price point you will never get similar product and quality in the market.