Answered Should I Install a Buttkicker

unreel

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I've read a number of threads where people sing the praises of the Buttkicker LFE.

I'm contemplating putting one for my front 2 seater cinema chair

Has anyone on here done similar for a two seater cinema chair?, its a full electric recliner, I'm concerned the reclining mechanism my isolate the shaking. I wonder if I'd need to build a platform for the sofa to sit on or mounting under the central arm and hope for the best ?

The other option would be 2 smaller shakers one under each seat.
I have a spare iNuke 3000 and 2 channels spare on my Mini DSP so driving them won't be an issue.

The room has a wooden floor and the 2 Stereo Integrity Subs already shake the floor to some extent.

Picture below show the sofa.

Sofa.jpg
Any advise / hints greatly appreciated.
 
Well, I'm sure people will be along that have had positive experiences. I don't have cinema seats but do have a 3 seater that's an electric recliner each end. As you have two rows and a spare Inuke I would have thought getting one Buttkicker/ transducer for each 2 seater would get the best results. Unless you have the urge to make a platform! Mounting directly to the sofa usually gives the best results.

For me they were just too much like a fairground ride. I didn't have an Inuke so had limited set up options which may have been why I didn't like them. As you have a wooden floor you should be getting a little bit of tactile effect.
 
Well as the only way to find out if I like it was to try one I managed to pick up a second hand one along with the couch bracket.

Last night I test drove it just disconnected my rear sub and used Channel 2 on my CV2800 to drive it. With no tweaks and just using the Mini DSP setting for my rear 15" sub it felt pretty darn good :D

Initial impressions lots of giggling and why didn't I buy one of these earlier and that's with just one sub and the buttkicker running. The body of the Buttkicker fits precisely in the middle arm of my front row, almost like its made to fit. I may play with putting it in the rear foot of the sofa currently its on the front foot.

I currently need a few more isolation feet and also the cables to wire it up to my spare Inuke 3000

So lots of tweaking ahead. I'll be using one of the spare channels on my Mini DSP to fine tune it so any tips welcomed. So far I've only got to using about half gain on the CV2800 and that feels like plenty !

The obligatory pictures below. Current wiring in Beta testing with it routed directly to my subwoofer amp :rotfl:
 

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When I was using some smaller bass-shakers, I found that for best effect from them was by limiting the LFE to them to 50hz. I initially was sending them 80hz and below directly from my receiver (just a splitter from the sub output to a stereo amp so it was getting the same signal as the sub), but found I was getting shaking when there really shouldn't be, and it ruined the effect. 50hz and lower felt more natural, so you may find a bit of experimentation to see what works best for you (if you haven't already done that).
 
I’ve got mine set to 40hz and below. Building a platform made a big difference, before then the shaking was too easy to localise, the platform means the entire seat shakes so you don’t feel it coming from one location, the earth just moves! I have mine dialled right down so the bass feels powerful without being able to distinguish between the buttkicker and the subwoofers. If you can get the balance right they work really well.
 
My first experience of 'tactile' bass was when I installed my first sub next to the sofa in my first house (only real place it could go without making the room look untidy). The house had suspended wooden floors and the sub and sofa shared the same boards, so every time the sub had a big moment, so did the sofa - you could feel explosions rather than just hear them. Big 'thumps' in the back during the Gladiator opening attack scene when they were throwing the fireballs for example. To me that added another dimension to the movie experience so would always try and get something similar in any new cinema room I'd build, either from the subs or additional means like bass shakers.
 
I've not actually used the room much recently, been out enjoying sunshine and riding my bike !

Last film I watched was Logan, never got around to it when it was released. That had some rather insane parts where I really felt it was adding to the film, the hotel seizure scene where everyone is barely able to stand up. At the end of that I was glad it was over !.

I've now actually bolted it within the arm of the chair rather than having it sitting on the buttkicker mount, this has made it a little more subtle and controlled feeling. Its filtered off below 60 at the moment I may try tweaking more when it gets a bit cooler.
 
Pictures of it bolted centrally with an additional wooden strut fitted. I'm not using the buttkicker couch bracket anymore. It does feel more controlled like this and its been like this for over a month now. I do miss the buttkicker now it if I don't turn it on :D. So yeah in answer to my question yes I should fit a buttkicker.
 

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