Today I get to step out of the headphone and portable world and into something bigger: the MartinLogan Dynamo 10 subwoofer. It’s not often I cover room gear, but this one makes sense. My home setup has always leaned on Magnepan panels—glorious in the mids and highs, but allergic to real low-end. That sent me on a long hunt for a sub that can keep pace with planar loudspeakers without turning the bottom octaves into mush. Along the way, I’ve tested and rejected plenty of contenders, because too many brands think “low and loud” equals good bass. It doesn’t. I want depth with control, texture, and real impact. That’s where the Dynamo 10 steps in—and it’s up against heavyweights like REL and SVS, two names that have tried to own this corner of the market.
MartinLogan built its reputation on electrostatic speakers, and while my planar loudspeakers come from a rival, the reality is the same: electrostatics don’t do big bass. They’re great at detail and air, but when it comes to chest-thumping impact, the panels just don’t move enough air. Since the launch of the Monolith electrostatics in 1983, dealers have been fielding the same question: “What do I pair with these things to get real low end?” By 2001, MartinLogan finally had an answer of their own with the Descent series subwoofers.
From there, the company has steadily refined its low-frequency game—adding depth, texture, and features with each new generation. The most recent refresh came last year, when MartinLogan rolled out three new subwoofer lines. The Abyss Series sits just below the flagship BalancedForce models, with dual passive radiators strapped to either an 8- or 10-inch driver.
The middle tier is the Dynamo Series (today’s subject), available in 8-, 10-, and 12-inch sizes. Like the Abyss, it packs modern conveniences—wireless capability, room correction, and an app that doesn’t look like it was coded in 1997. At the entry level, the Dynamo Foundation Series offers the same drivers but orients them down-firing, ditches the wireless frills, and keeps things wired-only to hit a more approachable price—without turning into boom-box territory.
And if you want the inside story straight from the source, you can listen to our podcast with MartinLogan Co-Founder Gayle Sanders here.
Some might be surprised that the Abyss series, with all the bells and whistles, still sneaks in under $2k—especially when plenty of competitors ask a good deal more for similar hardware. Impressive, sure, but for me the real sweet spot in the lineup is the Dynamo 10. It hovers just over $1k, yet still brings along all the toys from the Abyss line: wireless capability, room correction, and app control. So when MartinLogan reached out to see if eCoustics wanted to put one of these new subs through its paces, I knew exactly which box I wanted shipped.
Build Quality & Design
The Dynamo 10 is built around a 10-inch anodized aluminum cone woofer mounted in a stamped steel basket, housed in a 1-inch MDF cabinet with equally hefty 1-inch baffles. Cabinet construction matters a lot with subwoofers—too many decent drivers have been sabotaged by flimsy boxes that rattle more than they reinforce. The driver itself digs down to a rated 23–200 Hz and offers about 2.5cm of excursion in either direction (best estimate without tearing it apart, since MartinLogan doesn’t publish that number). Onboard, you get a 35–120 Hz variable low-pass filter with continuous phase control for dialing in the blend.
The electronics bring some serious muscle. Power comes from MartinLogan’s Magnitude 1kW amplifier, delivering 500 watts RMS and up to 1000 watts peak. Processing is handled by a 500 MHz Vojtko DSP engine with 64-bit architecture, which also supports wireless operation straight out of the box—though traditionalists can still run wired via both line-level and speaker-level inputs. For tuning the room, the Dynamo 10 taps into Anthem Room Correction (ARC). You’ll need a computer, the free ARC Genesis software, and the $50 ARC microphone to unlock it.
Controls are refreshingly flexible. You get level, crossover, and mode adjustment on the rear panel, but also full access through the iOS and Android app. The app lets you tweak crossover points and manage three different EQ presets—handy if you shift between music, movies, and late-night listening when rattling the walls might not make you popular.
Unboxing the Dynamo 10 is not a one-person job—the sub tips the scales at just over 19kg. Inside the box you’ll also find a generous set of accessories: grille, power cord, carpet spikes, RCA cable, USB Type-C to Type-A cable, AC adapter with 2-prong plug, wireless transmitter, and quick start guide. Pro tip: check every nook and cardboard flap, because MartinLogan packed this kit like a Russian nesting doll and I nearly missed a few parts during my own unboxing.
Out of the box, the Dynamo 10 is a surprisingly good-looking subwoofer. The piano black finish and subtle horizontal midline band give it more visual polish than the usual “black box” designs. With the grille on, it leans more toward furniture than industrial hardware—a rare compliment for a front-firing sub.
The rear panel is dense but logically laid out. At the top right sits the power input and 120/240 VAC switch. The left side handles the connections: speaker-level inputs (two pairs of banana ports) on the top row, while the bottom row runs left to right with the wireless pairing button and status LED, XLR input, LFE and sub-out ports, RCA line-level inputs, 12V trigger port and switch, power LED, sweep control and status buttons, and the ARC USB Type-C port. Dead center is a large backlit volume knob positioned above the sweep controls.
Notably, crossover adjustments and deeper configuration require the ML app, as they aren’t accessible from the rear panel. Consider it MartinLogan’s way of nudging you toward using the app instead of pretending you’ll crawl behind the sub every time you want to tweak something.
Technology & Features
There’s a lot packed into the Dynamo 10’s little box—wireless audio, a freshly updated Class-D amplifier, and the DSP designed by MartinLogan’s chief audio technologist Joe Vojtko. Some may underestimate the importance of this component at first glance, but nearly every function in the app—and a few on the rear panel—relies on it. Adjusting crossover, phase, filters, and even room correction all pass through the DSP.
Think of it like the difference between a souped-up sports car and a lawnmower engine. Sure, a slower DSP could have saved a few bucks, but MartinLogan opted for a 500 MHz, 64-bit design, ensuring that even with multiple operations running simultaneously, the system doesn’t stutter or stall. During my testing, I even tried to break it by adjusting the crossover in the middle of a room correction sweep. No hiccups, no freezes, no “please try again later” messages—just smooth, consistent performance.
Control App
The Dynamo 10 app gets you up and running quickly. There’s a QR code on both the rear of the sub and the quick start card to download it, or you can grab it from the links above. To pair, your device needs Bluetooth and Location services enabled, as the app requests location access during setup—because apparently your sub needs to know where it lives.
Once connected, the main page displays the three operating modes at the top: Movie, Music, and Night, followed by a volume dial with a proportional horseshoe around a central percentage display. Just below are Sweep and ARC buttons—though the ARC button stays inert until a room correction profile is uploaded. At the bottom, you’ll find Home, Help, Settings, and Disconnect.
The Settings menu is where the magic happens. Here you can adjust the low-pass filter (3rd or 4th order) anywhere from 35–120 Hz. Phase correction runs 0–180º with the horseshoe dial and numeric display, plus an invert phase option. For those chasing extra subsonic thrill, the 20–30 Hz range can be independently boosted or cut ±10 dB. There’s even a passcode option to keep unwanted phones from hijacking your bass, and a reset function to restore factory settings—which also clears any ARC profiles, perfect if you’re relocating or just want a clean slate.
ARC Room Correction & Calibration
Room correction on the Dynamo 10 is handled by Anthem Genesis Room Correction (ARC). Using the Anthem microphone and software, the system measures your room and uploads a correction profile to the subwoofer via the onboard USB Type-C port. One caveat: the mic isn’t included—you’ll need to purchase it separately—and the software isn’t MartinLogan’s; it must be downloaded from the Anthem site.
Genesis offers two modes: Auto and Professional. For most home users, Auto does the heavy lifting, asking a few basic questions (tape measure in hand, of course) before generating a correction profile. Professional mode exposes all the knobs and sliders, letting advanced users mix and match ARC-compatible components to build systems up to 9.4.6-channel home theaters—basically, the kind of setup that makes neighbors start questioning your life choices.
I ran the system through Auto mode, and from start to finish it took 30–45 minutes to get the profile dialed in and enjoy the benefits. For many, this is a bargain: a $50 mic and a little time is far cheaper than paying an audio shop for a one-off setup—and unlike a shop, the profile travels with your sub if you upgrade or swap gear without hitting you with extra charges.
Sound Quality & Performance
I swapped the Dynamo 10 in as a single sub in my listening room, replacing my long-standing pair of REL Classics, which I’d previously pegged as the best companions for my Magnepans. To put it through its paces, I queued up Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” and Holst’s “Mars” from The Planets—all unforgiving tests that quickly expose any sub that can’t keep up.
After some initial listening and tweaking the level to blend with the Magnepans, the tonality and speed of the Dynamo 10 impressed. Next came the ARC room calibration, which revealed that I had positioned the sub basically as badly as one could without relocating it to a different room. A quick physical adjustment—still keeping it out of the traffic flow, because mid-room placement is a pipe dream in most homes—put things back on track.
With the repositioned sub and ARC profile engaged, I replayed the same playlist. The gap between the single Dynamo 10 and the pair of RELs narrowed considerably. I wasn’t chasing blockbuster-level thump for movies; the goal was a natural, balanced pairing with my Magnepans. On that front, the Dynamo 10 delivered effortlessly, blending texture, speed, and depth without ever feeling overbearing.
Next up, I put the Dynamo 10 through some drum and bass, movie soundtracks, and hip-hop to see how it handled higher volumes and bigger hits. I bumped the volume and lowered the crossover slightly, focusing it on 80 Hz and below, and it filled the listening area with bass you could both hear and feel. Even when pushed hard, the Dynamo 10 maintained control and didn’t distort. That said, in larger rooms, an extra sub or stepping up to the Dynamo 12 would be a smart move.
The Dynamo 10 also added much-needed weight in the region where the Magnepans roll off—hence the 80 Hz cutoff—bringing warmth to what had been a lean, airy low end with only the electrostatics. If you’re running bookshelf or smaller speakers that start tapering between 60–100 Hz, you’ll notice a meaningful improvement in fullness even when you’re not chasing blockbuster-level thump or timpani hits. It fills in the gaps seamlessly, letting the music breathe without turning your listening room into a subwoofer rodeo.
I also tested the Dynamo 10 wirelessly, running the same tracks I’d previously used with an XLR connection. The results? No difference in sound quality and zero dropouts or interruptions—even when I walked between the sub and the transmitter. Some other wireless subs I’ve tried are notoriously picky about obstacles, but the Dynamo handled a chair sitting squarely in the signal path without flinching. In short, the wireless feature isn’t just convenient—it actually works, which is still rare enough in this category to deserve a nod.
The Bottom Line
With a $1,199 price tag, the MartinLogan Dynamo 10 delivers more than just solid bass. It pairs fast, controlled drivers with a well-built cabinet that leans toward furniture rather than industrial black box, and adds features that punch above its price—wireless operation, ARC room correction, app control, and multiple crossover and phase options. Compared with competitors, it stands out for build quality, thoughtful design, and practical versatility, all backed by a three-year warranty. For anyone auditioning subwoofers in the midrange tier, the Dynamo 10 deserves a hard look—it’s a rare combination of sound, style, and smart engineering that won’t break the bank.
Pros:
- Elegant piano black finish with furniture-friendly design; also offers uncommon color options
- Fast, detailed, and well-controlled bass that pairs seamlessly with smaller or planar speakers
- Flexible connectivity: wired (XLR/RCA/speaker-level) and wireless with reliable performance
- Feature-rich package for the price, including ARC room correction (mic $50) and app control
- Sturdy, heavy-duty cabinet construction (1″ MDF with 1″ baffles) ensures minimal resonance
- 3-year warranty adds peace of mind
Cons:
- Single Dynamo 10 may struggle to fully fill larger rooms; Dynamo 12 or additional sub recommended
- Fairly large footprint for a 10-inch sub, may be cumbersome in tight spaces