Installing Aura Bass Shakers

Amalething

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Hello,

Just ordered one of these bass shakers to give it a trial run before deciding how many I need. Problem is, I can't get any vibration from it. No instructions supplied, but downloading them doesn't help much. Maybe I'm thick, or I have a duff.

I have a Denon X2300W amp and a B&W 675 sub.
I have tried daisy-chaining it from my Sub's 'line out'. (and in place of my sub)
I've tried attaching it to the second LFE sub out on my Denon avr.
I've tried connecting it to the right-front channel on the avr.

All with either playing movies, music and sending 50Hz via an iOS app. But I'm not getting any response.

I understand their are dedicated amps out their for these. But as the sub is sat between the two sofas, I'll test it first before choosing how many shakers to buy, and how to power them.

Am I missing something?
 
Not too Sure if i'm right but i believe they need a Normal amplified speaker output not a pre-amp level output so a separate amplifier connected to the sub out LFE then from the speaker connection of the amp to the Shaker.

I could be wrong but this is my understanding of how they are wired. :)
 
have you checked out any of the youtube videos showing these being tested ?
 
Thank you so much. Theirs been a little confusion on my behalf, as I've seen ppl discuss using this with a (car amp), stereo amp, and dedicated shaker amp. Given that I have an avr and sub, I couldn't quite see where I fit it here :)

So to be clear, to test it I could just take a wire out of my front-right speaker, and directly into the shaker?

I also have a spare 2yr old Sony avr. Its overkill, but I just want to test it.

On a side note, from Amazon Parts Express sell it for £83. same ASIN from same seller its $44 (£36)!! All these recommending installing 4pcs in their sofa are not from the UK! :p
 
Not too sure if a normal speaker connection will do as it should be a speaker connection that has a crossover applied so its just getting the bass signal and not the full range i think the way to go would be split the sub lfe output and take 1 to the sub and the other to the sperate amp and then connect the shaker to the speaker output of the seperate amp
 
Hope that made sense (it does in my head but that's not saying much) [emoji23]
 
Not too sure if a normal speaker connection will do as it should be a speaker connection that has a crossover applied so its just getting the bass signal and not the full range i think the way to go would be split the sub lfe output and take 1 to the sub and the other to the sperate amp and then connect the shaker to the speaker output of the seperate amp

I think you're correct - though as a quick test the direct connection should make it do something ?
 
It should but be carefull leave it low volume
 
Yes, that totally makes sense, thank you.
But for testing, using an iOS app I can ask a speaker to make a constant 50Hz. Now if I was to unplug the speaker and up the shaker on to it, it should vibrate.. or do something?! Right?

The Denon avr spec states it can produce 20Hz at the front.
 
That could work yes.
 
Right sussed it! You know when that stupid moments gets realised?

I'd set the app to 50Hz. Centre speaker vibrating... however not the front-right. Only the centre speaker is set to accept below 80-120Hz (I forget my settings). As soon as I connected it to the shaker came alive!

Right, best get the Sony avr out of the loft and sit it next to the sub a week.

Thanks guys, really appreciate your help and efforts. I'd have never have worked that out without your confirmation. :)
 
Right sussed it! You know when that stupid moments gets realised?

I'd set the app to 50Hz. Centre speaker vibrating... however not the front-right. Only the centre speaker is set to accept below 80-120Hz (I forget my settings). As soon as I connected it to the shaker came alive!

Right, best get the Sony avr out of the loft and sit it next to the sub a week.

Thanks guys, really appreciate your help and efforts. I'd have never have worked that out without your confirmation. :)
Let me know what you think about them [emoji106]
 
I have 2 of these installed in my sofa and run from a Behringer a500 2 channel amp. They benefit from lower crossover settings than a conventional sub, so I use a feedback destroyer pro - also from Behringer to roll off the low pass filter at about 50hz. It's a different experience to a proper sub, but gives a satisfying effect all the same.
 
So I ordered from Amazon some cheap £15 200W 2 channel amp by Elegant on same day delivery. It arrived around 8pm, so I didn't have much chance to test it out.

These units are to fit in to Laura Ashley leather sofas, so I'm reluctant to bolt them on the underside unless they're for keeps ;)

- I'm taking a line out from my sub (LFE) which I tested is the same as a direct LFE feed. Using a good quality mono RCA cable.
- The 200W amp has 2.1 channel. The 2 channels offer little to no output. The 'super-bass' output has no crossover, just a volume knob. Connected with thick speaker wire.

So far I'm less than satisfied. For $44 each, one can't expect much. But for £85 I'm expecting a lot more than just a mild vibration.

I'm going to hook it up to my Sony avr, once taken from the loft and see if it's the 200w cheap amp causing the issues, or I need to spend more.

Given the high UK mark up on the Aura, I think the reviews are slewed. What's a good buy in the UK?
 
I like the look of the Behringer A 500. Sold on Amazon for £140. Can you recommend any thing between £50-£80 mark?
 
How have you fitted them to your sofa for testing? I have a pair of earthquake miniquakes and I only need about 20w to really shake my seat. But, crucially, I have them mounted directly to the underside of the seat area and NOT to the wooden frame in any way. You will get virtually nothing by mounting a shaker to the frame directly, IME.
 
I've not actually been able to fit them yet. However the plan is to bolt them on the underside frame, without opening the sofa. Sadly this isn't an option.
The sofa has two horizontal braces at the base, for each seat. It means I can bolt it to the frame with only 2 screws, without causing too much damage.

The MBQ1 looks awesome. Simply looking at the internals one can see this is how Tactile Transducers should be made.

I suspect the Aura will be returned. At £85 each, (2x £170) a single MBQ1 would be a more sound investment. So thank you for this recommendation.

Do you run a cheap and cheerful amp also? This MBQ1 states 500W. What does this mean in real terms?
 
I did run them off an old AVR for a little while quite happily. If you can mount them to the seat cushion, you'll need just a few watts to get things moving. Mine are currently being run off an iNuke 3000 but only because I upgraded my sub amp from that 3000 to an iNuke 6000. The 3000 is total overkill in terms of power but the built in DSP EQ is handy to smooth out the tactile response. I have the iNuke set to to limit power output to 20w, not so much for protection of the transducers but protection of my butt!
 
Why is everyone running them off fancy amps!? lol. For comparison I'd like to know what a cheap amp would feel like. But from what your both saying, is that this cheap amp should give me all the power, just not the finesse.

I've set the Sony amp (only replaced due to the lack of no audio 4K pass-through). But I can't seem to find the right setting. Maybe I need more connectors. I'm taking a mono RCA from the LFE to the red (or white) RCA audio in port. Then wired the shaker to the right-front speaker channel. There's no output from the skaker, so I'm not sure if I need a mono to stereo RCA, or if the amp isn't picking up the analog feed. I'll have another play with it.

Regarding the placement. I tried temporarily propping up the sofa with it, and placing it (rather uncomfortably) under the seat cushion to no avail. TBH, I tried turning the sub on and off during an opening bassy scene, and I can feel the sub more than the shaker!

For the purpose of testing, I compared it running through the shaker amp vs through the centre channel of the avr, and whilst the power is the same[ish], there is little to no LFE through the centre channel.

I'm seriously considering a bigger shaker, only their doesn't seem to be much choice between £80~£150. They seem to jump in price. Do you know of any other models I can consider?

Again, thanks for all your feedback guys.
 
Im gonna take a guess here is the red input for the left or right input this would affect which speaker terminals would be creating sound also make sure you have selected the correct input to the sony amp
 
Yeah that's right. I'm sure I've got a cheap stereo RCA in the loft to rule out the left/right issue. Maybe hook up a speaker to confirm their is audio coming through.
I'll update later.
 
First of all, I'm using an iNuke 3000 because I can, not because I need to, although the DSP really helps so I suppose that's a need. There is nothing to be gained in terms of finesse that your Sony amp cannot provide. So cross amp worries off your list :)

Second, definitely confirm that you're connecting your sub output to your sony amp left or right input and match the shaker connection to the corresponding speaker output. Also verify that your Sony amp is in direct mode or equivalent and isn't doing any bass management of its own (sending all that LFE out of its own LFE RCA socket). Once you have that right, the shaker should be pretty active just sitting in your hand with some content playing.

After that, maybe put the shaker on your sofa with a cushion under and over it. Sit on it. That'll give you some idea what is possible without damaging your sofa.
 
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned, but whichever channel you are using on your Sony amp to power the shaker, you need to make sure it is set to 'Large' in the amp menu (ideally set the Sony amp to 'no subwoofer' to get full range out of the 'Large' speakers. Otherwise the centre channel (or whatever) will roll off the very frequencies that you're trying to get the shaker to produce!

Perhaps even easier would be to use the left channel on the Sony and set it to 'Stereo Direct' or whatever Sony call the 'pass through' mode on their amps. That way you would get a full range response from the Sony speaker output into your shaker. The top end of that response would be filtered by the LFE output that you are using on your main AVR.

Hope this makes sense.
 
From what I remember of playing with these or a similar product if they are just sat in your hand they produce little or no noise and don't appear more impressive than a phone on vibrate. I'm not sure they would work very well just stuck under a cushion either. In order to come alive you need to attach them to the frame, with something to "shake" then you will get the effect you are after. Do you have a cheaper chair to try it out on first? We had ours attached to a long board that was attached discretely to both ends of a sofa and if anything they were too distracting unless you dialled them back. Clearly you won't get shaken like you would with a butt kicker or something requiring a 1000W input but you should be getting a lot more than you are.
 
Thanks for your input guys.
Is that what 'direct' means on amps? Just a pass-through. I'll remember that.

I think I have been unfairly rating the shaker based on feel. As IronGiant points out, bolting an iPhone to sofa wouldn't have the same impact ;)

I worked it out last night. And man does it shake!! I got fatigue half way through a movie as my thighs were becoming numb, lol. It was pushed under the sofa cushion, so today I'll bolt it to the frame.

So onto the cause of my headache. When setting up a new amp, they tell you to set the volume on the sub to midway. This is turn caused Audyssey to channel leave the LFE at -5dB.
After whacking the LFE channel to +10dB, whacking myself for my stupidity, and turning down both the volumes on the sub and shaker, that made an outstanding difference.

I'll have to adjust the low filter on the LFE (affecting sub and shaker). My speakers should be able to handle a lot more bass if I ask them to.

Excellent stuff guys. Thanks for all your help. In a complete u-turn, after bolting the one unit on, I'll consider a second for either the second sofa, or to double up as originally planned.
 

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