Official Elemental Designs Subwoofer Thread - Page 505

I bought my A5-350 back in 2007 (the old downward facing 350's). The LT-550 amp failed in early 2008, they replaced it back then, and it has worked ever since.

Does anyone know if that replaced amp probably already has the modifications that will hopefully prevent it from going out again? I'm not sure if all the LT-550 amps were the same model, but mine has the Keiga part number KGD-5250 (serial number scratched out - which seems to be common).

thanks...

On daveds50's advice I took apart my A2-300 to check the speaker, reassembled it hooked it back up, turned it on, light turned green and it works again!

Bizarre...

i can guarantee that it does not have reliability modifications. while i did work on LT550's, i did not modify any of them. only the LT200, LT300, and LT500. the LT1300 does not need modifications.
just use it till it dies, and dont worry about it till it does.

sounds like a bad connection somewhere that is now making contact. that was an easy fix !

Anyone else see this ??

Ben Milne, the original owner and founder of Elemental Designs is suing them, lol.

When he sold the company, he was supposed to get...

1. Effective June 15, 2011 and ending July 1, 2013, Milne would receive a gross salary of $120,000 per year, with mandatory state and federal taxes withheld, with payments made at the first of the month.

2. Until the fulfillment date, Milne would receive an additional $2,044 per month in consulting fees due the 15th of each month.

3. Udiom would continue to pay Milne's vehicle lease payment of $744 per month until the fulfillment date.

4. Lindeman and Tower would personally guarantee that the payments would be made.

5. Udiom would execute a separate pledge agreement granting Milne a security interest in the redeemed stock units and pledging the units as collateral for the obligations of Udiom, Inc., to Milne.

Here is the link http://www.newtonindependent.com/newton_independent/2012/12/by-peter-hussmann-ben-milne-founder-of-the-cash-based-payment-provider-dwolla-and-mentor-to-the-des-moines-start-up-communi.html

you can't post things like that! it ruins the conspiracy theories that a few people had that Ben was the REAL owner.

Has anybody figured out a good amp to replace the LT/550 for the A5-350 yet?

Tom

So I'm now the proud owner of yet another non working sub. My A2-300 just stopped working, which I bought back in Sept 2011 after the amp on my Cambridge Soundworks Basecube 12s fried. Which I still have, collecting dust, and since CSW said they no longer service or sell the amp (presumably because the company that once was is no longer, lol), I decided on a new sub.

When the A2-300 is powered on the led turns orange then green, but no bass. When power cycling it, I have caught it showing red a few times, but turn it off and back on it goes back to green where it stays. I don't hear a hum at all when powered on, but I do hear what I assume is a relay switching when turning it on. I hear nothing when I plug the audio line in when it's powered on, most speakers have a noticeable pop when you do this. I tried plugging my phone in as an audio source using a headphone jack to rca cable as a test, and with a working speaker I'd expect bass, correct? My HK amp is over 11 years old so I wasn't sure if it was the sub out line not working or what.

I pulled the amp (LT-200, heatsync on the inside) and it looks fine as far my eye can tell, no burn marks, no burnt smell, caps look fine, etc. The speaker shows 4 ohms on the nose when I use a volt meter, but that's about where my electronic knowledge stops. If I manually move the sub, it's quite stiff, but it's smooth and I don't hear anything scratching.

Ideas?

edited for clarity
Edited by gid - 2/5/13 at 8:49pm

Still a happy owner of a working A7s-650 (non-DIY). Realized today that the spot directly behind my couch was what ive been missing all along. Holy crapola this thing hits!

I have dual A5=350's....orange light on mine all meant replacing...3 times...orange to green then permanent orange then toast.

So how do I know it's for sure the amp, and not the speaker itself frying the amp?

with mine, it was orange to green then solid orange within a few usages...literally nothing worked within a day or two...and i use mine a lot.
with each replacement the amp literally died within a week, the last time they replaced it all has worked perfectly since. i have no idea how to test it personally, just have the same symptoms i had. sorry i can't explain it better for ya.

So where do you buy the amps? I can't seem to find them online anywhere.

Update
So I found this amp, but it would require me cutting a bigger hole in my box and MDF isn't exactly fun to work with, plus the bigger hole would cut into some of the internal bracing.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-803

Looking a bit closer at the amp, I found this little guy (5W2KJ) with some slight burn marks near the bottom:


It seems to be a some sort of cement resistor, but the only places I can find to buy them are straight from China.
Edited by gid - 2/6/13 at 9:00am

I wish i could help, mine were replaced while ED was still open...i would maybe start a new thread in the DIY section, some very smart folks over there and im sure you'd have help very quickly..

Thanks, I'll probably try that.

I'm going to try one of these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=015-2K

It has axial leads instead of radial leads, but as far as I can tell it's pretty much the same thing. I figure I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll be out $5 and have a brand new soldering iron that I can use to further ruin other electronic devices.

daveds50 contributes to this thread. He performed warranty work for ED and has offered his services to those in need of amp repairs.

dont bother... i have never seen one of those go bad on any of the eD amps... and that is out of hundreds. what you are thinking is burning marks on it, is actually the glue that they used at the factory. even a brand new amp that has never been used, looks just like that.

with a green light and no sound, your problem is likely the output section or power supply.

i would tell you to send it to me, however, i am leaving this saturday on a business trip until the 15th. if you would like to send it to me afterward, let me know.

Daveds50 fixed my LT500 amp for my A5-350 and it took less than a week round trip. Outstanding job sir! Thank you.

Didn't know the history of the LT550, and I posted this thread earlier:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1458695/subwoofer-amp-issue-bad-caps

From what I'm gathering, it sounds like the LT550 isn't even worth repairing? If so, that'd be quite a bummer.

Well crap, not sure why I didn't get notified of your post after I subscribed, I was receiving notifications, but gmail must have thought they were spam all the sudden. I ended up removing and replacing the resistor, but like you said, that wasn't it. The glue underneath it was all burn to **** around it. I'm kinda thinking after sending out the amp, paying you to fix it and ship it back, I might as well buy a new amplifier. What do you guys recommend? Unfortunately I cannot find any subwoofer plate amplifiers that fit a 7 1/4 square cut out.

I found this which is a 8 1/4 square cutout: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-803
I figure I can borrow a jigsaw and cut out a bigger hole and hopefully parts-express will continue making these if this amp burns out.
Can anyone recommend a better suited amp replacement? ( I knew I should have paid more for that HSU )

Im not totally positve, but I thought someone mentioned to me that there might be a filler plate. Meaning if there is a amp you like that doesnt fit.

Well the new amp requires a bigger hole than the original so I don't think a filler plate would work.

so you were saying in your original post that all the amps that didnt fit, were bigger? ok

The original amp is 7 1/4 square cutout, but I cannot find those for sale as elemental designs is obviously out of business. The Dayton amp from parts-express.com is 8 1/4 square.

It would be nice to find one that requires a 7 1/4 inch cutout so it would fit without any mods. But most of all, I'd like to make sure I get a quality amp this time around, which I assume will almost certainly require me to cut a bigger hole.

let me know when you find a plate amp of better quality... i work on them all, including the one you are considering, and have not found it yet.

the problem is they are all made in China these days, and use cheap crappy Chinese capacitors. designed to last 2-5 years and that is it. even my Bash amp on my Klipsch sub has blown up 4 times. i dont use that sub anymore, and am currently using eD amps on a custom built box now that is much better. all capacitors have been replaced with high grade Panasonic audio capacitors, and even handle my abuse, which is pretty amazing...

i think the problem these days, is hardly anybody is willing to pay for quality electronics made in Japan, Germany, or the good old USA anymore. therefore, we get cheap crappy China made products that die in a few years, and consider that the norm. a good example is most of the TV's in my house... bought for next to nothing and each fixed with about $6-$10 worth of high grade capacitors... and with those high grade capacitors, will be good for the next 20 years or so.

My circa late 2008 A5 LT/550 has been working great since I got it until recently. No sub output for a few weeks so I started troubleshooting. I assumed it was amp so I bought a Dayton 500 and spliced it in. Initial euphoria because it worked...strong bass, clean, etc... And then three days later, again no sound. New amp seems to be working fine but no sound and no perceived resistance since the green light is not "ambering" like it did when I played music after I first plugged it in (dimmed slightly and turns redish under load with added gain), just solid green.

So what could it be? I'm at a loss...my receiver is fine.
Edited by zdjelar - 2/25/13 at 5:33pm

as all of you know that have had amps fixed by me, eD amps or any other amp, i always stress ( including in this thread multiple times ) to check your speaker with a multimeter. if a speaker is shorted, or even partially shorted, whatever amp you put on it regardless of what it is, is going to go up in smoke. to not check it before hooking up a new amp, is just crazy.

i have read it multiple times... eD amps are unreliable... but... the speakers that Alex sent me were made in the Philippines and are absolute pieces of crap. when the amp powering it blew up, it was found that the voice coil of the speaker was shorting. no amp can survive that. but, now that i refuse to use eD speakers, my eD amps handle all the abuse i can give them... and that is extremely heavy abuse.

anyway, to zdjelar, did you multimeter your speaker ? if so, what were the readings ?

of course, it could be the made in China parts in the new amp have given up already.

No multimeter so I took a chance. I can buy one this week and test out however if it is speaker, how much roughly is that replacement going to be and is there any fitment issue like there is with a replacement amp or is that a straight drop in?

that all depends on what speaker you get. measure, and shop accordingly. or, others may have some suggestions.

My 12" sub reads 3.7-3.8 ohms. Is this normal or should it be closer to 4?

For what it's worth my 12" Cambridge Soundworks Basecube lasted right around 10 years with quite a bit of use. Maybe I was just lucky. Still have it, and the burnt out amp. Would eventually like to get this one working as well, but my priorities are with my A2-300 at the moment.

Out of curiosity, if I bought a capacitor meter, is it ok to check the caps while they're on the board or is that not recommended? I take it the amp would last longer with higher quality capacitors if replaced?
Edited by gid - 2/26/13 at 9:57am

close enough- sagging spiders can affect the ohms readings too.