Elemental Designs Audio, yay or nay?

[SPLmatic 10+ year member]

searched for this and didn't find any result results so I figured I'd go ahead and post it.

Just wondering what your opinions are on eD audio, or if anyone has any experience with any of their products. I've heard all sorts of different things about this company, that's why I'm posting this. I plan on buying a couple 15''s and an amp from these guys soon, and I'm pretty convinced they've got some good **** that has great value. Couple of the reasons I'm going with eD is because of the value (two 16ov.2's, 1200w amp for $680) and their location.. which is a state away. I've heard their customer service isn't great, but I've been exchanging emails with a sales tech from eD and they seem pretty legit. I think that was more of an issue in the past.

Just curious to see what your opinion is about these guys. Always good to get some info from others before you make a pretty large investment.

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[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

nine.1 amp is a yay

 

[treadburner 10+ year member]

i have to 19ov2's and they r real musical and are great for the price

 

[Qbenjamin 10+ year member]

ED had some quality issues in the past, but other than that fiasco, I haven't really heard of any issues with them.

 

[pieper88 10+ year member]

people don't easily forgot issues. But as of late they've been good. The only issue for me is ED is going to be moving away from the car audio industry in favor of the home theator market so I'm not sure how or if they will support their old car audio.

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

wish i owned they proto type nine.1 thats 3k.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Pistons23 10+ year member]

i have their nine.4 amp. has been a good performer for the last 2 years. like pieper08 said, i dont like how they seem to be leaving the 12volt side. i guess they go where the money is at.

and if dont mind buying used, the resale market for ED is soft. and their warranty is transferable.

 

[Pistons23 10+ year member]

and that $680 is good, but tell them you want a b-stock nine.1 for an even better deal. youd have to call them for that though

 

[pieper88 10+ year member]

wish i owned they proto type nine.1 thats 3k.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

you mean the nine1xxx? I believe its 4k. It pops up on ebay every so often.

 

[pieper88 10+ year member]

i have their nine.4 amp. has been a good performer for the last 2 years. like pieper08 said, i dont like how they seem to be leaving the 12volt side. i guess they go where the money is at.
and if dont mind buying used, the resale market for ED is soft. and their warranty is transferable.

Don't blame them. There HT **** is amazing. I've been to their offices and checked out their soudroom. Its ****ing amazin

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

The owner is a tool/liar/snake/cheat/weasel/thief, and the forum is ran by nazi mods who delete anything that isn't on it's knees ******* eD's nuts.

No thanks.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

Nine.1 and Nine.2x are great, but the company leaves much to be desired.

 

[SPLmatic 10+ year member]

Don't blame them. There HT **** is amazing. I've been to their offices and checked out their soudroom. Its ****ing amazin

Nice. Yeah, was surprised when I found out they're located in Iowa. But I'm definitely liking the 5 year warranty on everything they sell..

The owner is a tool/liar/snake/cheat/weasel/thief, and the forum is ran by nazi mods who delete anything that isn't on it's knees ******* eD's nuts.
No thanks.

elaborate?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

The nine.X series of amps seem to be good products based on what Ive read and people Ive spoke to. Not surprising their best quality product is farmed out and made by someone else.

elaborate?

He's referring to Ben Milne. Ben's first brush with bad press was when the 'sound deadener showdown' was released on the web. eDead (v1) was advertised with heavy implications it was butyl rubber based ("made from rubberized compounds") in a time when butyl rubber based mats were just hitting the market. Ben/eD's mat was priced somewhere between the cheaper asphalt based mat, and the more expensive butyl rubber mats, leading you to believe it was not simply the out dated asphalt mat but instead butyl based that they were simply selling for cheap. The Sound Deadener Showdown was released, and its testing clearly showed eDead was simple asphalt based mat. Ben sold his average-level asphalt mat at a higher price than other asphalt mats on the market, while advertising it as made of 'rubberized compounds' which uses the fact that all asphalt based mats have some rubberized compounds in them (as a binding agent) as a tool to fool potential customers into believing his mat was the superior butyl based product. Ben/eD was clearly walking the tightrope between legal 'creative advertising/hype' and illegal false advertising.

That one story alone warrants Ryan calling Ben a tool/liar/cheat/weasel/thief/whatever. But there's plenty more examples. Look at this website for a sec:

JL Audio Contacts Elemental Designs Over Patent Infringement Concerns [audiojunkies]

That page is dedicated to eD/Ben's attempt to illegal steal patented technology from the JL W7 subwoofer and incorporate that tech into their 'W7 killer' subwoofer, the 13av2. eD actually advertised the sub as their new "W7 killer". So he deliberately called out JL and their W7 series woofer directly, while knowing in his mind that his sub had tech in it he/his company had reverse engineered from a JL W7. Balls + stupidity. JL's lawyers informed eD of their intention of taking legal action, and Ben was forced to change his subwoofer.

Then there's the flat-cone problem. It was the 15" version of the a series iirc. The vast majority of them had cone failure (like above 80%), it was found to be a design flaw, and yet eD claimed they were all 'user errors' on the failed drivers, and gave no refunds, did not recone/fix the sold and failed products, and iirc didnt even send back the broken drivers customers had sent in for repair/warranty.

There's also the many accounts of eD's eDead, in various versions, falling off when it shouldn't have. There's the situation where eD was caught stealing a speaker design from Tang Band, there's the eu-700 speaker terminal mounting position... and... uhm. I know Im forgetting some of the stories, is that enough to convince you Ben and his company are crooks and incompetents? He's been caught lying to customers, stealing from competitors, and building poorly designed products (like the eu-700). The trifecta of scamming. Ben's the grifter of car audio, the dumb one who keeps getting caught.

I for one am glad eD is leaving the 12v realm and moving on to HT. Let those HT guys deal with them. I wonder which HT company's subwoofer design Ben is eyeballing for his new 'break out' HT product.