Butt shakers. Anyone got advice on these?

Hi mark,

Yeah I did want a lower frequency response, but as the way I want to do it is to make each seat a self contained unit there are a couple things I took on board. First is cost, several units would cost a fortune so the cheaper amp and shaker helps there plus an extra 10 hz might not be that worth the cost, especially as games simply arent going to go that low and this is primarily what I see me using it for. Also as this is a bit of a DIY experiment I'd obviously rather lose less if it goes pete tong. I'm not sure I can fit the larger unit inside one of my sofas yet so it seems the sensible option.

Ive decided to try the BK module for a couple reasons. Again one is cost as its an experiment, but the main one is that I can fit it inside the sofa with the module. Seeing as the amp is supplied as an open unit I can fit the required sockets (power and phono input) externally of the amp, in other words flush mount them on the underside of my sofa. This basically leaves the entire unit essentially one with the seat, and I'll effectively just need to plug the seat into the power and phono signal :clap:

I just hope a full range amp is fine working with the unit. I could try a dedicated sub amp from BK, but these are a little more expensive.

Still, I'll hopefully get a similar effect to you but at half the cost and without any separate amp unit lying around. Wait and see eh :smashin:
 
Hi mark,

Yeah I did want a lower frequency response, but as the way I want to do it is to make each seat a self contained unit there are a couple things I took on board. First is cost, several units would cost a fortune so the cheaper amp and shaker helps there plus an extra 10 hz might not be that worth the cost, especially as games simply arent going to go that low and this is primarily what I see me using it for. Also as this is a bit of a DIY experiment I'd obviously rather lose less if it goes pete tong. I'm not sure I can fit the larger unit inside one of my sofas yet so it seems the sensible option.

Ive decided to try the BK module for a couple reasons. Again one is cost as its an experiment, but the main one is that I can fit it inside the sofa with the module. Seeing as the amp is supplied as an open unit I can fit the required sockets (power and phono input) externally of the amp, in other words flush mount them on the underside of my sofa. This basically leaves the entire unit essentially one with the seat, and I'll effectively just need to plug the seat into the power and phono signal :clap:

I just hope a full range amp is fine working with the unit. I could try a dedicated sub amp from BK, but these are a little more expensive.

Still, I'll hopefully get a similar effect to you but at half the cost and without any separate amp unit lying around. Wait and see eh :smashin:


I assume you going to tap into the low level sub input so its already limited to 80hz and contains the LFE. Don't forget you could add an in line crossover to the Y split. I posted a link somewhere above for these already.
 
I assume you going to tap into the low level sub input so its already limited to 80hz and contains the LFE. Don't forget you could add an in line crossover to the Y split. I posted a link somewhere above for these already.

My intention is this. As my sub is conveniently placed next to the sofa (as you know), and I'm going to run from its LFE outputs, so that my 80hz limit. I can then use the crossover you linked if I need to but hopefully this will work out just nice :smashin:

Youve just got me thinking about those extra 10 hz at the bottom now though :devil:
 
It's a shame we're not closer as I could lend you my (wife's :)) buttkicker Mk1 to play with before you spent too much money. It weighs 5kg though so postage would be a killer :(

5 - 200 Hz
11 lbs / 5 kgs
4 ohms
400 watts min. /
1500 watts max. That's the newer version not sure what the original goes down to.

Dave
 
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It's a shame we're not closer as I could lend you my (wife's :)) buttkicker Mk1 to play with before you spent too much money. It weighs 5kg though so postage would be a killer :(

5 - 200 Hz
11 lbs / 5 kgs
4 ohms
400 watts min. /
1500 watts max. That's the newer version not sure what the original goes down to.

Dave

I have not experienced the butt kicker but from what I have read the Earthquakes are superior, at least the Q10B is.
 
I'm sure it is, particularly against my (untested) older model... No problem there.

Dave
 
I'm sure it is, particularly against my (untested) older model... No problem there.

Dave

I only mention it because shakers generally have a bad press on here and maybe deservedly. I wouldn't want that impression perpetuated when there are good units out there. That's why I went for the latest; too see what is possible nowadays and I had no prior opinions to colour my judgement.
 
So which is the best unit to get for around the £100 mark? Is it worth it at all at that price?

The Aurasound ones seem to be rated for 40hz+, whereas the others are 5hz+ etc. Do they really go that low and is the aurasound pretty much defunct?
 
I paid a lot more than that for my Quake 10b and amp. I think it was very worthwhile for me. I am really impressed with the effect :D and so is everyone who has sat on my sofa. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I am not sure if there is much that can be done that would be worthwhile for 100 quid...

Shakers are like most things, the more you pay the better it gets. Its a personal thing as to where your happy with cost versus performance compromise. I think shakers have had bad press in the past before because of the inferior products that were used and the big improvements in subs.

Aurasound products have been around for quite a while. They are relatively cheap but mutiple units maybe needed and even then they may fall short of the desired effect. I have not seen too many people singing their praises in recent times especially when a good sub may give better results.

My quake is rated to 5hz but I haven't ran any 5hz test signals to verify it.

I have my Shaker crossover set to cut all frequencies above 40hz!!! Infrasonics, inaudible low frequncies, are 20hz and below. The Q10B can rattle my eyeballs and creates a very powerful effect. The infrasonics effect is much more powerful than my sub, which is no slouch. So comparing Aura vs Quake is bit like a comparing the rumbling effect of a tank vs a skate boardi!

I haven't actually experienced an Aura unit so my comments are just based on what I have read.

The main problem everyone here has is the lack of availabilty of transducer products, the consequent high cost and the relative few people on the side of the pond that have tried them. There is almost no opportunity to demo these products. :mad: Comparisons are therefore difficult. I live too far away from the UK otherwise I'd give some demo's myself.
 
If you do Google this subject you will find relatively little. Google for UK suppliers and one company dominates: The Shaker Centre and their distributers Network Music

I did find another company that sells butt kickers (out of stock!) and they also hire audio equipment.

Wigwam > Butt Kicker

It might be worth asking them if they are wiling to hire Shakers for home trials!

Almost nothing can be found in the UK for the Quake... except my AVF threads :)

Seems like a nice buisness opportunity for someone :rolleyes:
 
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Thanks Mark, I've just got myself a Proac Response set up and apparently the sub goes down to 18hz. I've not had it home yet but it's definitely shaking things in the office which is about 10x bigger than my living room. Maybe the Auras will make little to no difference with a very decent sub. I'll see if I can persuade myself to get the big toys lol.
 
Thanks Mark, I've just got myself a Proac Response set up and apparently the sub goes down to 18hz. I've not had it home yet but it's definitely shaking things in the office which is about 10x bigger than my living room. Maybe the Auras will make little to no difference with a very decent sub. I'll see if I can persuade myself to get the big toys lol.


Yes you could be disapointed with the Aura's if your sub is already a powerful one.

It's a pity that the good shakers are a bit more expensive than people want to risk without some sort of demo.

Hopefully in time a few more AVF members will take the plunge and can verify (or not) what I say... believe me the Q10B is really a lot of fun, esp. if you like your LFE to kick ass :D
 
It's also the fact that there is very limited support over here, I guess we're stuck with the one place that sells, and even then prices are massively more than what they are in the US.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll buy a decent one and justify it by saying I might hire it out for £5-10 a pop for people to try out lol.
 
It's also the fact that there is very limited support over here, I guess we're stuck with the one place that sells, and even then prices are massively more than what they are in the US.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll buy a decent one and justify it by saying I might hire it out for £5-10 a pop for people to try out lol.

I bought my Quake from the Network Music and I have no complaints about their support. They were marvellous when I complained about a noisy amp and it was sorted.... well the 2nd amp they sent was still noisy but thats the design I think. I got used to it now but it has loudest hum of all my kit.

I do think there could be a business opportunity for someone in the UK/EU to sell transducers/shakers. Unless there is only room for one supplier :eek:
 
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I would guess its something you really need to try.. ages ago one of my mates put it like this, why spend so much just to vibrate your arsehole when you could get something from lovehoney :rotfl:

ive also had some brief contact with bk electric, who said they are now out of stock on the tt-50's, and expect if they get any more the price will jump to the £30 range :(

emailed mike from network music and they are estimating the new buttkicker gamer mk2 in mid october and for £150 :x
 
Well I've just bit the dust and got myself a Butt Kicker 2.
 
AVF seems to be gaining more transducer fans recently :)



These members have used or are still using:
  • Sonic Immersion Technologies I beam: Suave
  • AuraSound: Cliff, BOOMERANGBUBB, IronGiant, lovelyhead
  • Guitammer ButtKicker's: Richardc1983, thakursachin, Ballistix999, bad robot
  • Guitammer Wireless ButtKicker Derek S-H
  • Earthquakesound Quake 10B: m4rky_m4rk
  • Clarke Synthesis: Paul Smith
  • Crowson: avanzato
Irongiant did have a BK but never hooked it up :thumbsdow ...Richard has it now :smashin: ;)


BK Electronics also sell something (TT-50) that looks like an older version(re-badged) of an Aurasound transducer!

Any products or members I missed? (no sex toys, massager's etc please :rolleyes:)

N.b. The AuraSound products (and probably the BK copy) do not do much below 30hz... they are cheap however...I am doubtful they will really do a good job compared to a good sub if your looking to locally boost the infrasound in a HC setup.
 
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AVF seems to be gaining more transducer fans recently :)


These members have used or are still using:
  • I beam: Suave
  • Aurasound: Cliff, BOOMERANGBUBB, IronGiant, lovelyhead
  • ButtKicker's: Richardc1983, Suave, thakursachin, Ballistix999, bad robot
  • Earthquakesound Quake 10B: m4rky_m4rk
  • Clarke Synthesis: Paul Smith
  • Crowson: avanzato
Irongiant did have a BK but never hooked it up :thumbsdow ...Richard has it now :smashin: ;)


BK Electronics also sell something (TT-50) that looks like an older version(re-badged) of an Aurasound transducer!

Any products or members I missed? (no sex toys, massager's etc please :rolleyes:)

N.b. The AuraSound products (and probably the BK copy) do not do much below 30hz... they are cheap however...I am doubtful they will really do a good job compared to a good sub if your looking to locally boost the infrasound in a HC setup.

As requested by Mark heres my review!

My buttkicker is the very first one that they released, its fantastic, despite having to make a custom built mounting plate to mount the kicker to and my sofa to stand on I am very please with how it has turned out.

Initial expense of the buttkicker amp was a shock but then it is a powerful piece of kit, would like it if the amp had a remote as sometimes have to keep getting up to increase/lower the intensity of the kicker. I know there is a smaller less powerful amp that they make that is wireless and comes with a remote however this wouldnt have powered my kicker I was told. Of course I had got a great bargain from Iron Giant so realised that I had saved money whatever way I look at it!

Watching films is great and I have most enjoyed horror films where something happens that your not going to expect eg someone jumps out that sort of thing and you almost feel as if they have jumped onto the sofa or into the room... and it makes you jump.

Action films also fantastic, particulary on the Dark Knight Batman movie, the scene where he is racing through the tunnel the whole sofa violently shakes as if theres an engine inside it and you feel every acceleration, it really is fantastic!

We have watched I-Robot too which has similar action scenes and the buttkicker doesnt fail to impress.

My parents came round after their holiday to catch up and I put the dark knight on to show them and caught them offguard as they didnt know I had the Buttkicker and my dark literally shouted some expletives when it "kicked" in!

Also tried Titanic and poseidon (latest one), buttkicker made you feel as if you was on the ship however it was less impressive on poseidon but this shows the LFE track musnt have had much thought put into it.

I have the crossover set at 60hz as I like to feel the shaker a little bit more and also feel more immersed in the film this way.

Music wise, well great if you dont want to have music on too loud and annoy the neighbours because it recreates the bass through your sofa, however being the very first version that I have I do feel that is not quite tight and in tune on the beat, this could be due to me listening to "repetitive" dance music :oops: and could be due to the sheer size of the shaker the piston inside must have further to travel to the other side of the shaker so therefore there is a very slight delay in the next beat being produced and it therefore feels slightly out of sync as to what is coming out of the speakers but the sub woofer reproduces this fine. As I say I am putting this down to it being the very first version and I bought it primarily for movies which I am more than happy with!

Of course my thanks go to Iron Giant for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this piece of kit :)

I dont think I would be without this piece of kit now as I went to the cinema to see The Final Destination 3d and whilst the bass was very good in the cinema it lacked that seat rumbling experience that I have now gotten used to!

Heres my setup:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/subwoofers/1061052-my-little-adventure-buttkicker-lfe-mk1.html

Hope this gives you an insight into my experience!

Cheers
Rich.
 
Music wise, well great if you dont want to have music on too loud and annoy the neighbours because it recreates the bass through your sofa, however being the very first version that I have I do feel that is not quite tight and in tune on the beat, this could be due to me listening to "repetitive" dance music :oops: and could be due to the sheer size of the shaker the piston inside must have further to travel to the other side of the shaker so therefore there is a very slight delay in the next beat being produced and it therefore feels slightly out of sync as to what is coming out of the speakers but the sub woofer reproduces this fine. As I say I am putting this down to it being the very first version and I bought it primarily for movies which I am more than happy with!

Hi, Does the amp have any phase delay control? How far is your sub positioned from the sofa? I found adding a bit of delay to the shaker helped with the timing... about 3ms per meter.
 
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I agree a remote controlled amp is useful. Even better would be a shaker amp with some presets for gain and crossover. I find I neeed diffrent setups for music and movie LFE. My main aim for the transdcuer was to massively increase the movie LFE. I find that once setup for movies then its hard to tell if the tranducer does anything at all in for most music CD's. If I play CD's loud and there's some low stuff then I occasionally can tell.... maybe I have it too well seemlessly integrated :rolleyes: I think CD's could use a bit more gain and maybe a higher crossover but its a pain to keep adjusting them, especially on my amp with no gain indication!! Presets, IR remote and then set and forget is the way to go.

Richard, Have you tried War Of The Worlds... the pod emerging scene.. thats very, very good with my shaker.

Also, I liked Wall-E.. the Eva arrives scene. When the rocket ship makes its final touch down, with the rocket motors rumbling, there's a huge infrasonic pulse as it makes contact with the ground. My sofa feels like it leaps an inch of the ground with the shock wave :D:D:D Its not so impressive with just the sub alone.

Check out the best bass moments thread for more great scenes to test.
 
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My parents came round after their holiday to catch up and I put the dark knight on to show them and caught them offguard as they didnt know I had the Buttkicker and my dark literally shouted some expletives when it "kicked" in!

I know of that effect :devil::devil::devil: Unsuspecting guests are more fun to watch than the movie :D
 
Hi, Does the amp have any phase delay control? How far is your sub positioned from the sofa? I found adding a bit of delay to the shaker helped with the timing... about 3ms per meter.

Not sure about phase delay? Dont think it does but my sub sounds fine and is in the corner of the lounge.

Its only music that I have that prob with and mainly dance music which like I say I use the sub for!

1000 Watts @ 4 ohms
• 1900 Watts @ 2 ohms
• Can power 1, 2, 3, or 4 ButtKicker LFE transducers
• Class D switching technology
• Variable high cutoff, 40 - 160 Hz
• Low cutoff, 25 Hz switchable
• RCA and 1/4” inputs with 160m Volt and 1.25 Volt sensitivities
• Either 120v or 240v versions. NOT SWITCHABLE
 
I agree a remote controlled amp is useful. Even better would be a shaker amp with some presets for gain and crossover. I find I neeed diffrent setups for music and movie LFE. My main aim for the transdcuer was to massively increase the movie LFE. I find that once setup for movies then its hard to tell if the tranducer does anything at all in for most music CD's. If I play CD's loud and there's some low stuff then I occasionally can tell.... maybe I have it too well seemlessly integrated :rolleyes: I think CD's could use a bit more gain and maybe a higher crossover but its a pain to keep adjusting them, especially on my amp with no gain indication!! Presets, IR remote and then set and forget is the way to go.

Richard, Have you tried War Of The Worlds... the pod emerging scene.. thats very, very good with my shaker.

Also, I liked Wall-E.. the Eva arrives scene. When the rocket ship makes its final touch down, with the rocket motors rumbling, there's a huge infrasonic pulse as it makes contact with the ground. My sofa feels like it leaps an inch of the ground with the shock wave :D:D:D Its not so impressive with just the sub alone.

Check out the best bass moments thread for more great scenes to test.

I watched Wall-E last week and was less impressed than Irobot which was fantastic. Yes I got the bass at the right moments but I was also viewing late at night so was being cautious of general volume to the neighbours upstairs so I turn the amp up louder for the buttkicker anyway but I was still worried.

Have you got the link to that thread? Havent tried war of the world but might have to!
 

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