MFW-15 w/ new July 2009 amps <absolutely NO AV123 or MLS bashing/negativity!!>

I ordered a MFW-15 in late may.

I talked to Kyle yesterday and he said my sub should ship next week. I was expecting August so I'll be very happy with a mid July ship date. I'll have my new DSLR before then so I'll try to take some pics and report back when I get my new MFW-15.

I hope some who have received warranty replacement amps can post here.

Did Kyle mention whether you'd be recieving one of the new Bash amps in your new sub?

I'm going to speculate you are not receiving a warranty replacement amp or getting a new MFW-15. I don't have any facts on this, but I'm guessing this is the case. Maybe there would be some facts on the AV123 forums about this, but they are closed. Did you know that?

Wayne....from what I've heard, the new amps are digital switching amps (or Class D).

I had also heard some discussions regarding oscilating design vs non-oscilating design (which the new amps are).

Supposedly, all new replacement amps will be sent by either this week, or next. Not sure, but again, just what I've tracked in different forums.

If you follow that to the likely conclusion, it makes sense that any new orders for MFWs will start shipping right after that.

I was of the understanding the new amps are not Bash models.

deepstang.....while not amp related directly, I just spoke to MLS for the first time in many week about the status of new MFWs shipping. He's going to start shipping the Rosewood MFWs. I can only go by the pictures, but based on the look of my Rockets, those will look great.

Didn't solicit any information from him, but he also said he was aware of the "snug" fit of the new amps. He mentioned a couple of quick taps with a rubber mallet should do the trick.....and they will fit SNUG!

He said he doesn't follow these threads, for what that's worth.

All-in-all, sounded pretty positive. He said they're very busy.

I received my first replacement amp, have not installed it yet, the second one is delayed due to the fire.

I'll be replacing the first amp tomorrow.

Both of yours died? I thought 1 was still working?

Both of mine need to be replaced. I chose not to post about it until I knew what the resolution was going to be.

I received mine yesterday, a gentle tap with my fist took care of the irregularity... My one concern is that the amp feels too warm for my liking, but, so long as it doesnt take a dump on me I would be ok....

Over a year ago pictures were posted of a digital thermometer showing temperatures of over 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the "heatsink". If you can't keep your finger on it, somethings the matter.

There were certain MFWs that had to get a new amp because the temperature of the "heatsink" was too hot.

My MFW amp gets warm to the touch. If I play a "spirited" movie, a little warmer. But, it's never too hot to touch.

I know I've had AVRs and separate amps that got a lot warmer, with no ill effects. Heck, even my cell phone gets fairly warm if I'm on a particularly long phone call.

Amps (electronics in general) are going to get warm. No way around that.

Understand that 115 degrees is about 7-8 degrees warmer than your (healthy) forehead feels right now.

I received a tracking number today for my MFW-15. My replacement amp is supposed to ship Monday.

I received confirmation from UPS, with the exception notice.

Mine's on the way. Suppose to receive it next Tuesday according to UPS tracking confirmation. I've got my fingers crossed that it will take care of my problems. The sub made an extremely loud pop and then unreal rumbling noise according to my wife when the original amp blew, so I'm hoping it didn't ruin the woofer. Funny thing is was that nothing was playing when it blew, although it was on auto.

Has anybody given thought to swapping out the face plate when swapping amplifiers?

I'f mine need to be tapped into place I may swap the plate so they aren't hard to remove in the future.

Just a thought, I'll email AV123 and see what they think.

I thought about doing that since there is no way a simple smack with a mallet will get my new amp into place. It's easily 1/4" bigger, that wouldn't just be snug, but would probably split the wood. Anyway, it looked like more work to swap out the parts than what I was willing to invest, so I'll just live with it not being flush I suppose.

Just got mine today and it is now up and running. I forgot how great this sub is--it sounds fantastic. The new amp is louder than the original, though my original may have been bad from day one anyways.
It is a tight fight, but nothing to complain about. I did have to lay a cloth-covered piece of wood on the edge of the amp and give it a couple very light taps from a hammer and it fits perfectly.
The only problem I encountered is that one of the speaker connections was loose, so I had to give the female end a little squeeze with the pliers and then taped them up for good measure.
The whole job shouldn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes. If this type of thing is difficult for you, you shouldn't buy subwoofers over the internet. It certainly is hell of a lot easier than boxing up an MFW and shipping it out for repairs anyways.
My sub is now pumped up and drowning out all the haters.

I may solder the connections instead of using the plugs, I believe in tight secure no way in hell it's coming loose connections.

Can you guys post some pictures?

Shiny Happy People

A quick question. I received my replacement amp Thursday and installed it yesterday. I now have a hum I didn't have with my original amp. It is a low level hum that occurs when I turn my system off. Then after a short period of time (minutes) there is a small popping sound and the sub goes perfectly quiet. Is this the sub going into standby and is this normal?
For information I have not changed any of my gear since my original amp died. All my speaker settings are the same on my Onk receiver as they were with the original.
And yes my plate on the replacement amp was slightly larger than the original amp plate but it fit the opening with no issues.

Trying to remember who posted over at TCA about this (Lance, I think). The "auto" setting actually shuts down the pre-amp, while the amp itself stays on, in stand-by. The pre-amp shutting down will be the cause of the "thump" you heard.

How loud is the "hum"?

KH.....I'm also a big believer in solder vs caps. It takes just as much time to solder as it does to use an electrical cap or clip.

It is a low level hum, barely audible from my seating position about 10' away. At about 4' away it is noticable and at 1' away very noticable. After about 12 - 13 minutes, I didn't use a stop watch, there is a click and the hum stops. I did install a cheater plug this morning, which I didn't use with the original amp, but it didn't make any difference.

Do you know for a fact it's because of the new sub amp, or could this hum be originating some where upstream in the signal path?

As I stated in my earlier post nothing has changed in my HT setup. When my original amp died all I did was unplug the amp electrically and changed my speaker settings on my receiver to no sub and speakers large. After installing the replacement amp I plugged the sub in and changed my speaker settings back to sub yes and 80hz(?) for my crossover, my original receiver settings. With the original amp there was never any hum at any time. So I would say yes this has something to do with the replacement amp.

Sounds like the pre-amp is turning off when you hear the click. That's also the reason there is no hum.

Could be a a ground loop hum. If it's bugging you, you can start the process of unplugging different sources and see if you can isolate the ground loop hum.

If it's not giving out a low level hum when it shuts down, I wouldn't worry about it too much....especially since it's not noticeable from your seating position.

Someone said that the new amp comes with a ferrite bead clamp. That's something that's usually used to alleviate hum. When you reinstalled the amp on the MFW, did you wrap the connections with electrical tape?