Official Elemental Designs Subwoofer Thread - Page 105

Originally Posted by Stix2

I think alot of the problem is people talking these speakers up soooooo much and people expecting the world of them. People talk these up to high heaven and then when people buy them and they do not perform upto the stated claims(of people in forum not ED) people get angry.

I was a bit letdown with mine aswell after hearing all the talk and expecting the world and what I got was alot less than what I expected.

Originally Posted by Stix2

I think alot of the problem is people talking these speakers up soooooo much and people expecting the world of them. People talk these up to high heaven and then when people buy them and they do not perform upto the stated claims(of people in forum not ED) people get angry.

I was a bit letdown with mine aswell after hearing all the talk and expecting the world and what I got was alot less than what I expected.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

I understand your point, but why are only A5-350 owners expecting so much. Once again with all the issues revolving around this particular product, all I want to do is exchange it for another eD product that does not have these issues. If I would have waited 3 more months to buy this sub, I would have seen all these issues and I would have chosen a different eD product. If I was asking for cash back, I would somewhat understand having a problem. But I am asking for an exchange with other products they sell which dont have these issues. Which seem to be every other sub except for the A5-350.

As far as testing goes, I am all tested out. I have moved my sub to every possible location in my room and ran REW graphs. It is now in the best possible spot in my room according to these graphs. I have tried every fix posted on here except for the attenuator and subsonic filter. I really cant spend anymore money trying to get this to work. I ordered the attenuator from Partsexpress last week. It has still not arrived. With my luck, it will probably never arrive.

eD tried to contact me this afternoon, but work was crazy today and I could not answer the phone. By the time I had time to talk, they were closed. I will post with updates.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

I understand your point, but why are only A5-350 owners expecting so much. Once again with all the issues revolving around this particular product, all I want to do is exchange it for another eD product that does not have these issues. If I would have waited 3 more months to buy this sub, I would have seen all these issues and I would have chosen a different eD product. If I was asking for cash back, I would somewhat understand having a problem. But I am asking for an exchange with other products they sell which dont have these issues. Which seem to be every other sub except for the A5-350.

As far as testing goes, I am all tested out. I have moved my sub to every possible location in my room and ran REW graphs. It is now in the best possible spot in my room according to these graphs. I have tried every fix posted on here except for the attenuator and subsonic filter. I really cant spend anymore money trying to get this to work. I ordered the attenuator from Partsexpress last week. It has still not arrived. With my luck, it will probably never arrive.

eD tried to contact me this afternoon, but work was crazy today and I could not answer the phone. By the time I had time to talk, they were closed. I will post with updates.

Originally Posted by Stix2

I understand but you are not the only ones you are just the vocal ones. I have the A7S-450 and I was letdown and expected much more. But then relized it was just so many talk these speakers up and get you set for a house foundation to crack and you get a window vibration.

I like my speaker and it does work... Just not to what I expected. And mine does not shutoff because it has power to spare and would just rip the speaker up before it would shut off. But the extra power does not help if the speaker cannot handle it.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

the A5-350 are the only ones with amp issues that I know of.

Originally Posted by bommai

My amp is broken. I bought new fuses from Radio Shack and they also blew immediately. So, I need to get a warranty replacement.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

the A5-350 are the only ones with amp issues that I know of.

Originally Posted by bommai

My amp is broken. I bought new fuses from Radio Shack and they also blew immediately. So, I need to get a warranty replacement.

Originally Posted by Stix2

Its not really a problem its just running out of juice. If ya had a bigger amp ya would blow the speaker. Its just the amp cannot feed the speaker as much as you want it to. If I feed mine to much it will bottom out. Same limitation as you just a different way to get there Not that I have done it as you dont need to go that far to know when the limit is being reached.

I agree that you should call your CC company. Free shipping is free shipping they cannot say its free then change the story. I would file a dispute.

Originally Posted by Metalheadisme

Like was said, I think the A5-350 owners are the more vocal ones because of the in-between area the sub is in.

People with the LT1300 amp probably have more headroom than they know what to do with, but from what was said, it seems all the LT amps have the same protection type of protection at the output stage once the amp runs out of headroom.

Has anyone with an A3-300 gotten their amp into protection? I don't know... maybe they haven't tried WOTW pods emerge scene at 0MV on their AVR's, which might be because they weren't expecting it to go that loud. Maybe they have played the scene with no problem at 0MV, which might be because that amp operates with less headroom and the driver requires less power, but they never get to the output level of the A5-350 using the headroom at lower MV. I don't know.

One thing that seems true is that the A5-350 likes power, and the way they have it set up delivers a lot at lower volume levels with a great dynamic range. Perhaps though, the 550W is teetering on what would be required to get to the volumes some are expecting with the headroom we like. Some seem like they might prefer some limiting, with a bit less headroom to make sure that they can reach those volumes without worrying about protection. Perhaps an amp with a bit more wattage (LT1300 would be too much) like an LT750 would do the trick, allowing to get to those volumes AND keep the headroom. I don't know.

One reason I keep wondering about this subsonic filter is that the protection mode keeps occuring on scenes with really low extension. I can't wait to get the in-line Fmod filters in so I can test this, but either way, it would seem to me that if eD would continue to make unregulated amps (which I think is very cool- putting some more power in your hands) the inclusion of a subsonic filter would make sense in fall in line with their goal to cater to the enthusiast crowd that wants to have more control over their setup.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

At least you dont have to get up from the couch 10x during a movie to turn the sub back on, while your family points and laughs at you. Or they tell you to turn the volume up, I cant hear the voices, and you tell them sorry I cant do that. I think you have to come over and watch Hot Fuzz in my house to really appreciate some of the abuse I take. I must admit tho. I got it down to a science when to lower the master volume on certain movies to avoid the sub turning off. Oh yeah, dont even get me started on some of the demo dvds I got. Thats always good for a laugh.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

0 MV? If I could get even close to 0 MV I think I would throw a party and invite all you avs guys over.

Originally Posted by Metalheadisme

Has anyone with an A3-300 gotten their amp into protection?

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

I'm sorry about the sarcasm in the above posts. I think this whole sub thing is driving me a bit crazy. The sad part is tho, I am not over exaggerating. And I really do wish it is something I am missing here. But we are talking about -17.5 master volume. The sub is only at 12:00 and the sub on the AVR is only at -12.

Originally Posted by pimpumd

I have an A3-300 and have not got it into protection mode. I have an Onkyo 705 (set to about -3 or -4). When I tested this setting on WOTW (pods emerge scene), with sub gain half way up, the sub started making some very unpleasant noises (as eD says, sounded like dog turds). I assume it was starting to bottom out due to the massive amounts of LFE from the movie. By this point, though, the entire house was shaking and was definitely way louder than I would ever listen to. In fact, I only had the scene going for about 15 seconds by the time my neighbor began pounding on my door (I live in a townhouse).

I don't know if that helps, but thought I'd share.

Originally Posted by Metalheadisme

So then I guess the limiting factor there is the speaker potential, like with the A7S-450, and it's the amp capability with the A5-350.

Originally Posted by Metalheadisme

Give eD a call, I'm sure they'll take care of it for ya and ship you out a new amp.

Originally Posted by Hot Grits

In contrast, I have come up with this list of A5-350 (LT-550 amp) owners who have one time or another been into protect mode.
corwini (new amp fixed problem)

Originally Posted by Heavy-D

I wish to thank everyone for their input into this thread and hope those who are having problems can get them resolved soon. Still considering an eD sub and will stay away from the LT/550. Fortunately I don't need or want a sub that breaks down the molecular structure of all matter within a five mile radius or a WMD sub.

Originally Posted by tkdee

I haven't seen my A3-300 go into protect mode, but then again I only have an Onkyo 605 receiver which only has absolute MV not relative. So, I can't say really what level I watch movies at relative to reference. I usually listen between 50 and 65 MV. I suspect this is well bellow reference levels. If anyone has an idea what would approximate reference levels on my receiver maybe I'll try putting on the transformers HD-DVD at that level for a bit and see if my sub shuts down too, but I also don't want to beat up my sub too much because I do know it goes louder than I need it to.

Originally Posted by corwiniii



If it's like the 705, then 82 absolute = 0 relative.

Originally Posted by Heavy-D

I wish to thank everyone for their input into this thread and hope those who are having problems can get them resolved soon. Still considering an eD sub and will stay away from the LT/550. Fortunately I don't need or want a sub that breaks down the molecular structure of all matter within a five mile radius or a WMD sub.