well, the ED subs are hand assembled, so there may be slight variances here and there... i'm not 100% sure of what you've seen (or what component you mean) do you have a digital camera? can you take a pic of it? if you GENTLY move the cone, does the positioning change any? also, does the sub have the quality assurance paperwork w/ it? Ben usually tests and inspects all his subs personally...

oh -- just checked ED's forum... looks like Ben will be out for the week.
you can probably ask about it over at their forum and get some good (and bad) advice -- filter as necessary.
http://forum.soundillusions.net/forumdisplay.php?f=20

i'd still call ED.


and yes, they should run it in bridged mode for the sub... but the sub will be a total 2 ohm load, not 4 ohms. the e8a has dual voice coils, each of which is a 4 ohm load... wired in parallel, this will produce a 2 ohm total load.

 

I emailed the tech line to see what they have to say. I have a digi, I will take a pic so you can see what Im talking about. Ill check out that forum, and yes, it did have quality papers with it, all signed for every section. I can push on one side of the sub to get the crooked part straight, but I imagine that that throws off the cone. Pressing gently in equal proportions around the sub does not effect the crookedness of the piece.
gmoore

 

*nods*

i'm looking forward to seeing the pics.

 

Crooked left-



Crooked right-



See that piece in there?

I emailed the tech department, and said pretty much what you did, they build them all by hand, there will be differences, theyre all tested, etc, etc. He also said if it doesnt sound well to just send it back and he would replace it. Easy enough.

What do you think?
gmoore

 

that's the 'former' i believe... it's part of your voicecoil and spider to cone joint...

i see how it's off a bit, but the spider should guarantee a good alignment... i was initially afraid you had a crooked spider (the ribbed thing around the former), and that might cause major issues.

i'd generally agree with them... let it break in a bit, then when you give it progressively more power, listen for any noise or sound quality issues... i suspect you won't have any problems, but it never hurts to be cautious.


and GAWD is that a fine looking sub or what?!

 

It surely is. I was kind of weary about buying from a not so well known company, but this really turned out well. Its all being installed Saturday, if the XTANT comes in, it says it hasnt moved in three days on the tracking service, I hope they just havnt scanned it... And how long did you break your sub in for?
gmoore

 

Ahh... if it hasn't moved in 3 days on the site, it must be shipped UPS... i always seem to have problems w/ UPS.


sub break in is when the sub will slowly improve in volume and quality... mine took several weeks before it was truly broken in... and i broke mine in just by listening to it normally... i found mine gained both quality and volume over the weeks....
however, i was more intending to pass on the idea of starting the sub off at lower levels for 10-15 minutes, then after verifying everything is good, then slowly increasing the volume... not just plugging in and going for the max asap. if the shop is installing it all, they should know all this and will do it for you... after i verified that the sub was running properly and that nothing mechanical was wrong -- it was setting gains time, and i ran mine into distortion briefly (both amplifier and speaker) soon afterwards...

 

Ohh ok, I thought I had to keep it quiet for a week before I could start turning it up. I hope I dont have distortion problems again... Ill let you know how it turns out, and what we end up doing mounting wise.
gmoore

 

yeah, that's a very common misunderstanding... basically the speaker will loosen up some during the break in period... but mechanically it's good to go from moment one... the initial care and slow increase in volume are just to make sure that there are no defects.

i do hope you have no distortion issues again as well...

is this the same shop that set your gains last time? or a new shop.... i think you mentioned before that it's a new shop, but i can't recall and don't want to re-read the entire thread again...

if it's the same shop though -- i'll link you to a good 'gains setting page' and you can give it to them or just do it yourself. or i might just explain to you how to do it... my method isn't perfect, but w/o an oscilliscope it's virtually impossible to set gains 'perfectly.'

 

Well the retarded part was that the shop that did the original install was the new shop. I learned my part and now Im goin back to the one that usually does it. They know how, they set them on two other amps that I had installed on other cars there. As long as that Xtant gets here by 3:30 tommarrow, it will be in at 4:00. I got some money saved for the custom install if its necessary, and your said it should cost about 200, but how long will it take? The way he described all he needed to do was cut the plexi to the well size, then lay carpet over it around the amp. Nothing too complex, but Im sure it will take longer than it sounds.
gmoore