Official Elemental Designs Subwoofer Thread - Page 497

I'd go with the Dayton reference 15" driver, this one:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=295-468

It's rated down to 18hz, and from the reviews I've read is a really good quality sub driver.

I gotta say, eD is now a disgrace. Their so called "liquidation" sale is a joke. $200 just for a subwoofer enclosure with nothing else? Good grief.

The sub enclosure was out before they stated they were closing. I haven't heard anything else about a liquidation sale.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Wow, so I just learned about all this eD stuff this morning after being fed up with waiting for an RMA I submitted on 6/20/12. I was stupid enough to send my broken LT/550 to them where I assume it is just sitting in a corner somewhere.

So what do I do now. I have a 350 sitting in the corner of my room with a big hole in the side where the amp is suppose to go. I am not sure if I am getting the amp back or let alone a working one at that.

Any suggestions from those who have/had broken LT/550 amps?

Your help is greatly appreciated.


just to clarify, I have a downward firing A5 - 350 with the LT/550 amp, well I don't have the amp anymore
Edited by maxpower2078 - 9/10/12 at 9:59am

Here was my solution to filling the amp hole.. added an extra brace in the cabinet and filled the hole with 3/4" MDF, with a cutout for a speaktron plate

here is what i posted in the other eD thread... it is getting buried by off topic useless drivel posting that people just cant seem to refrain from doing...

begin copy:


just to let everyone know, Matt has shipped out some stuff to me, including some RMA amplifiers that people have told him to send to me to be fixed. should arrive sometime this week.

i have no idea who the amps belong to, but was told that all have contact info with them. this is for amplifiers only... if you have more than that there, i am not getting it. dont have any info on other stuff.

i do not know if any are included that the owners have not contacted Matt... could be... but i dont know. either way, should have contact info with the amp.

if you have sent just an amplifier there, and it could possibly be coming to me, message me, and i will look for it when everything arrives. include name and RMA number.

also, let me know if you want it fixed or not. normal pricing would be from $55 to $65 for 500 watt amps, and $45 to $55 for 200-300 watt amps, plus return shipping.

if you just want it sent back to you without fixing, let me know. however, because i am not connected with eD, you would still need to cover shipping back to you. i was only their amp repair house last year.

That is good news, I just found all this stuff out yesterday so I didn't contact Matt until then but I will PM you the info I have and see if you have my amp. I would like it repaired if you do have it though.

I didn't see it posted here so I'll share. Turn the lights out the party is over.

From eD homepage:



My mother used to teach me to always tell the truth, to never lie, to be honest and uphold all integrity despite the situation. It reminds me of a book I read in school where a family hid a group of people underneath the floor and when they were interrogated, they didn't feel that lying was the right thing to do. So they told the truth, no matter what was going to happen. Turns out, everybody came out okay. Can anybody help me with naming that book?

I feel that I have been as open and honest as I can be in the last 4 weeks. Elemental Designs started to collapse, and I thought I could hold it up. It turns out, I can't. My bold assumptions allowed me to investigate on my own to find the dead ends that were left for me and locked opportunities. Some systems were open to my discretion, most, however, were closed. Soon, the open systems that I did have access to became closed as well. What I thought was a situation I could help mend turned into doors slamming in my face, one by one.

The official announcement of closing on August 31st was immediately followed by a glimpse of shimmering light with a negotiated extension to hopefully assist others. That shimmering light has now vanquished and I am left with nothing in the wake of ruins. Almost systematically, logistics failed left and right as I was left wondering how to make things right, literally with a few dollars in my own pocket.

Under the name of Elemental Designs, I cannot right the wrongs. The rabbit hole has been dug too deep and too wide, and there's nothing left I can do but shut the entire operation down. I tried, I failed.

There's a lot of questions that are going to be asked that I don't know the answers. I would love to say that I know everything, that I know all of the answers, but I don't. The only thing that I DO know is that the next six months are going to be interesting. For better or for worse, I cannot say. But interesting, that much I can say.Â

I'm opening a new gmail account to accept emails. I'm not entirely sure how long the @elementaldesigns.com account is going to be active, but at least this way I can still be in contact with people who deserve answers. The new email address is: ed.answer@gmail.com

-Matt Tower

I was about to buy two more 19ov.2's for sonosubs. Anyone have a recommendation for a similar driver?
I hate to see eD go out like this...

Sad news. For those who contacted their credit card companies and got amounts credited back, I can only hope that those credits remain permanent. In the meantime, the only apparent recourse is to email the investigator (steve.switzer@iowa.gov) and trust they'll be able to make things right. I'm no lawyer and I have no idea how this is going to play out. ED as a company, was delinquent in filing the requisite paperwork to the Secretary of State to maintain their good standing. How this affects matters remains to be seen because it may well have compromised whatever protection they might have had as an LLC. If that's the case, it's not unreasonable to expect that the owner(s) personal assets may be at risk. This includes the once 'helpful' Alex Lindeman who may find himself having to cash out his home.

If anyone hears about any legal actions, please take the time to post what you know.

i wish i could help the ones who got stiffed. i'm 30 minutes from their facility in newton,iowa. i bought a a7s-450, and it just crapped out on me. well within warranty still...didn't even care threw the pos in the garbage.

I have finally actually got the $ credited to my visa account after having the request pending for about a month. Good riddance eD

Anyone in the scenario of unreceived merchandise that was paid by credit card should be covered. Your CC company may or may not play nice but that's irrelevant as long as you know how to properly dispute the charge. Just picking up the phone will likely initiate a chargeback process with the merchant - they'll give you a temporary credit and "see what they can do". The problem is this will not be successful at which point the CC company may or may not remove the temporary credit. You need to remove the merchant from the equation and simply dispute the charge with your credit card company itself as a billing error. This kind of dispute is much different from a chargeback and has nothing to do with the merchant. This cannot be initiated over the phone, it must be done in writing and your CC company will very likely not tell you about it or help you initiate the process over the phone. Here's an article covering this situation on the ftc website, note the 2nd portion is all dealing with the merchant which isn't an option in this case:

http://ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre28.shtm

Another common mistake is disclosing too many details - this can only serve to weaken your stance and give the CC a way to cloud the issue. The letter template in the link above is a good guide - only facts (nothing about promised delivery dates, bankrupt companies, etc.).

I had a recent dispute with my CC company but was unaware of how to properly dispute. I initially got the "chargeback was unsuccessful" scenario and told they wouldn't be able to get my money back. Fortunately I'd been doing my research and called back. I was lucky - at the sheer mention of sending a letter to dispute the charge as a billing error I was put on hold momentarily then told the temporary credit would be permanently applied to my account.

Good luck!
Edited by lennon_68 - 9/12/12 at 10:18am

What a mess....

Great post, lennon!

Thanks Chu! If it helps even one person it was worth typing up. Note I edited it a bit over the last couple minutes. I once had a similar issue of an eBay purchase that never showed up. I thought for sure I'd be protected since I paid with Paypal but quickly found that to be a dead end as the funds were already out of the seller's paypal account (they hold funds now but didn't back then). Fortunately I'd paid using my CC through Paypal - my CC company successfully completed the chargeback type of dispute against Paypal. I'll never use Paypal with anything other than my CC again (and now I know why they push so hard to get you to use anything BUT your CC... well that and probably associated fees).

People ought to take that letter and turn it into a template for MS Word! I guess now we'll see how the legal process takes shape. While all the affected buyers have my deepest sympathies, so does Matt. Alex, OTOH, I doubt he'll ever be able to be associated with audio again.

I would honestly be surprised if it isn't worse than that. From what I've heard, it got worse than initially though as more and more was uncovered.

Yes, it seems as if Alex may have been keeping from Matt just how bad the drivers and amps were failing. In the end, a very dysfunctional business.

Which makes it even more unscrupulous that eD was taking money from people for product that it may or may not be able to deliver or support if and when an RMA issue occurred. Their warranty, was essentially, worthless for many buyers.

This happened to me. Everything is working great for now and after all this I believe they copied the designs for their 13av2's. Why? They are that good, I just hope they last. I used to talk to Alex for hours and sometimes Matt. I have always bought drivers, wood, etc.. and never amps. When I did buy it was always in bulk! This last time I was told things that were blatant lies(The big one was the company having difficulty). I guess I was still within their return policy and they were still returning money at that time. I loved my M&K speakers but once they went out of business(it happens, that was a long lasting company too) I ditched them. I feel the same way now about my subs but I will keep them and if they break I will replace them myself with an upgrade(I hope).

MK: When you get the "upgrade fever" let me know!

I too was able to get into several 13av2 kits, but I opted for Crown amps instead of the eD amps. So I feel like I am pretty good to go, but I could always use a couple more. hehe

I use my own amp as well.

How much are you running to each unit?
I think I am running 2k to each unit.

I was also wondering if you are running a HPF or not? I think the settings I am running have the HPF turned off.

Unreal. I'm one of the ones that got stiffed when I sent my failing amp in for repair back in May.

The hardest part for me to swallow is that it's literally the AMP that I sent back to them, something that I could've contracted out for repair in an ideal situation, that is now seemingly gone forever and I'm left with nothing more than a sh**ty end table. What makes me even more mad is at one point in the timeline I had discussion with Alex who offered me a couple of alternative amps because he said MY amp was out for repair (probably lost) and he was getting nowhere with a response back from them regarding status (bs). I told him I could be patient and wait, as long as he could continue to update me about the whereabouts and status of my repair. I'm not the one to have regrets, but that being said I wish I could have been a bit more savvy to see the writing on the wall and taken what he was offering me. My gut certainly told me something was up.

I'll continue to hold out hope that Matt has SOME sort of solution to offer up, be it a used amp laying around or something, but I guess its going to be time to REOPEN my wallet and shell out for something else. Definitely not what I had in mind 4 months ago when this whole mess started...



Edited by MT_WRX - 9/12/12 at 4:40pm

I've been watching for an exodus of ED equipment in the classified section...

I've seen none. The fears about the equipment devaluing after ED closed their doors are largely unfounded.

I would have no problem buying ED equipment used. In fact I plan to buy a few ED products used soon.

It's no joy to the people who were left hanging with damaged goods and broken promises, but it's bit of a glimmer of light that your products haven't devalued completely in the wake of the debacle.

I think that remains to be seen (devalued gear). And I am guessing if things are working people will hold on to it. You also have shipping cost, I know for me I could only sell my eD sub local, and I did take a huge loss. And there is no way an eD sub will hold value vs an Hsu or SVS sub.

don't hold your breathe. Doesn't look good. I've been talking to Matt.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

so, I have not heard from Matt since 8/30/2012 !!! I recieved 1 email and no response yet. I am owed $245. This might not sound like alot to some but for me it is alot. It took me over 3 months to save to be able to afford 1 sub from ED and now I am stuck with no responses and no refund and no sub !!!.......help me here Matt !!!

That's an odd amount. Reading between the lines, it seems that the most Matt could try to accomplish was limited to amps and drivers. Financial restitution does not appear to be within the means of Matt. So, your most prudent course of action would be to file a dispute with your credit card company.