adding equipment (butt kickers) to a completed theater???

[avncars]

hello all! it has been 4 weeks since my little theater rooms completion, in that time i have watched every bit of 35 movies, probably more...i must say, i absolutely love it in every which way possible! i feel like i have left my house everytime i walk in and close the door. as much as i love the room, there are a few poor choices i made during the building process, mostly in equipment. first was one i already addressed on the forum, and thats the projector. but no big deal! i am ordering an up to date 1080p epson 8500 before the end of the week. second was my surround speakers, but now that they are calibrated they are far better. third, and this one kills me the most!!! i dont know why i didnt go with a 120" screen?! but its too late to change that now...now my question to anyone who has or knows about the "butt kickers"...how do they work? do they have to be put in during construction, or is it easy once every thing is finished off? i just think they would be a great addition, its not that i need more in the low range department at all. any help or info on the "butt kickers" would be awesome, thanks...

[McGarnigal]

Is it safe to say that buttkickers are a more practical approach than D-box equiptment, which requires expensive equiptment and only certain titles?

[GeologyNut]

Originally Posted by avncars

hello all! it has been 4 weeks since my little theater rooms completion, in that time i have watched every bit of 35 movies, probably more...i must say, i absolutely love it in every which way possible! i feel like i have left my house everytime i walk in and close the door. as much as i love the room, there are a few poor choices i made during the building process, mostly in equipment. first was one i already addressed on the forum, and thats the projector. but no big deal! i am ordering an up to date 1080p epson 8500 before the end of the week. second was my surround speakers, but now that they are calibrated they are far better. third, and this one kills me the most!!! i dont know why i didnt go with a 120" screen?! but its too late to change that now...now my question to anyone who has or knows about the "butt kickers"...how do they work? do they have to be put in during construction, or is it easy once every thing is finished off? i just think they would be a great addition, its not that i need more in the low range department at all. any help or info on the "butt kickers" would be awesome, thanks...

Buttkickers are typically put under a foot of a chair, couch, or recliner. They can be installed on joints underneath a false floor where your seats are. They are made to be more or less universal when being put on or under a chair/frame of your stepped HT floor.

They work by taking the LFE signal and transferring what would be audible sound into movement, hence the name bass transducer.

You would need to purchase multiple bass transducers because you have recliners that do not attach to one another. If you had your recliners tiered on a DIY floor then you could mount a couple of buttkickers on the frame to get the affect of a shaking floor.

They are not cheap, I've been looking into getting one myself (only need one since I have a couch, just slip it under a leg and off you go).

There are several models of Buttkickers, wireless and wired. IMO wired is better. The amp is usually 1000 or 1100 watts and supports up to 4 transducers. The amp is plugged into your LFE port in your receiver. If it is being used, get a Y RCA cable to split it off!

[Beta Man]

I'm considering getting a pair of Aura-Bass-shakers (they're only like $50 each) and attaching them to the under-side of my sofa....... the sofa has a metal frame that rests on the floor, so I'll have to attach them to one of the wood-cross-members, but nonetheless, it seems like a cheap upgrade..... I'm not sure how much I'll really get from the "affect" but friends have told me it would be "really cool to do" so for the sake of my guests' enjoyment, $100 isn't too much to at least give it a try.

Since I have a new sofa now that has reclining left and right seats...... I may start with one of these, and mount it under the center seat, and see how much of an affect that has...... I certainly don't want it to shake too much...... I want to enjoy films, not go on an amusement ride


This is certainly an upgrade/modification that doesn't really need to be planned on from "Ground-up" so adding it to an existing setup shouldn't be a problem for you.

[TKNice]

I'm definitely doing this when I get around to it. From others I've talked to who have these, they are apparently the single most noticeable upgrade--or at least the one that everyone talks about.

In my setup, I think 4 aura bass shakers will be perfect (1 under each recliner and 1 under each sofa chair should be awesome) and at about $50 each and then a cheap amp to run all 4, they say it brings to your theater a level of immersion that a sub simply can't by itself. I'm guessing you don't want to set your levels too crazy, just enough to make people say WOW.

I CAN'T WAIT!

-TK

[Beta Man]

Can't vouch for the site, but this place is selling the Aura-Bass-Shakers for $58 a PAIR!

http://www.discounthomeautomation.co...41415354324234

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by GeologyNut

Buttkickers are typically put under a foot of a chair, couch, or recliner. They can be installed on joints underneath a false floor where your seats are. They are made to be more or less universal when being put on or under a chair/frame of your stepped HT floor.

They work by taking the LFE signal and transferring what would be audible sound into movement, hence the name bass transducer.

You would need to purchase multiple bass transducers because you have recliners that do not attach to one another. If you had your recliners tiered on a DIY floor then you could mount a couple of buttkickers on the frame to get the affect of a shaking floor.

They are not cheap, I've been looking into getting one myself (only need one since I have a couch, just slip it under a leg and off you go).

There are several models of Buttkickers, wireless and wired. IMO wired is better. The amp is usually 1000 or 1100 watts and supports up to 4 transducers. The amp is plugged into your LFE port in your receiver. If it is being used, get a Y RCA cable to split it off!

A big +1 on the Buttkickers!!! If you get the kit, you get everything at once. With the Aura bass shakers, you will need to purchase a seperate amp to power them, and any other accessories needed. The Buttkicker kit costs $369.73 here, which is the cheapest I have ever seen it. The kit has EVERYTHING you will need. Good luck and have fun!!

[D_M]

I'm adding a Buttkicker LFE Kit to my HT tomorrow!

[tilallr1]

How distracting are the butt kickers?

I mean has anyone installed them, then removed them because they were ruined certain movies for you (especially the bass heavy ones)? Or are they a subtle addition that adds to the films.

I do NOT want to feel at all like I am on an amusement park ride.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

How distracting are the butt kickers?

I mean has anyone installed them, then removed them because they were ruined certain movies for you (especially the bass heavy ones)? Or are they a subtle addition that adds to the films.

I do NOT want to feel at all like I am on an amusement ride.

That is what the amp is for. You can adjust the crossover and high or low pass filter to make it only "shake" during scenes you want. I agree, you don't wait to shake every time a simple car door slams or a gun is shot. There is a pic of the amp in my gallery if you want a closer look.

[repete66211]

I would recommend you take a test-drive of a Butt Kicker if you can. I always thought they are a great idea until I watched a movie in a theater that had them installed. I was sick of the effect after about 30 minutes. And I was watching Up. I can't image how I would have felt were I watching Avatar or something like that.

[TKNice]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

How distracting are the butt kickers?

I mean has anyone installed them, then removed them because they were ruined certain movies for you (especially the bass heavy ones)? Or are they a subtle addition that adds to the films.

I do NOT want to feel at all like I am on an amusement ride.

That's the beauty of it, you can increase the power from zero until you have a nice subtle rumble that augments your subwoofer. I'm planning on powering mine with this amp so I can easily make adjustments.

[avncars]

wait, you can use ANY amp you want? so if i get them, the amp can go in my component rack and only speaker wire needs to be run to each chair for the transducers? i thought each chair needed a power source under it for each transducer. if its just a speaker wire to each chair? im defenitley gettin them!

[TKNice]

Originally Posted by avncars

wait, you can use ANY amp you want? so if i get them, the amp can go in my component rack and only speaker wire needs to be run to each chair for the transducers? i thought each chair needed a power source under it for each transducer. if its just a speaker wire to each chair? im defenitley gettin them!

Yep avn, just speaker wire to every chair. The only real issue is making sure you get the wiring correct. I'll need to research it again when I'm ready because they can be run in series or in parallel and there is definitely a right and wrong way to do it. I've seen lots of diagrams out there from people a lot smarter about this than I am, so just do a few searches and you should be good.

For some people, there is also a challenge of where under the chair to mount each shaker. You may need to add your own cross brace.

-TK

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Since I have a new sofa now that has reclining left and right seats...... I may start with one of these, and mount it under the center seat, and see how much of an affect that has...... I certainly don't want it to shake too much...... I want to enjoy films, not go on an amusement ride

What kind of sofa is it Beta? The left and right recliners sounds kind of like my sofa. If so... the bass shakers are plenty, and you can adjust them to your personal tastes and each individual soundtrack with the gain and crossover controls on whatever amp you get to power them. If your sofa has consoles like mine... you can just drop the amp in the console and make the adjustments while you are sitting and can feel them.

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by repete66211

I would recommend you take a test-drive of a Butt Kicker if you can. I always thought they are a great idea until I watched a movie in a theater that had them installed. I was sick of the effect after about 30 minutes. And I was watching Up. I can't image how I would have felt were I watching Avatar or something like that.

I tend to save them for action heavy movies. They are great for accentuating the explosions and what not. I don't even turn them on for something like The Hangover. I'm sure you would have enjoyed the experience much more were you able to tweak the settings to your personal preference... as you can with a butt kicker or bass shaker home set up.

[stroudenov]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

I tend to save them for action heavy movies. They are great for accentuating the explosions and what not. I don't even turn them on for something like The Hangover. I'm sure you would have enjoyed the experience much more were you able to tweak the settings to your personal preference... as you can with a butt kicker or bass shaker home set up.

For us, we wouldn't go back to life without the Buttkicker. You have control to make it as impactful as you like. Drag Me to Hell was entirely less exciting the second time I saw it WITHOUT the buttkicker. I felt that the people not on the sofa were seeing a different movie. I need more of them.

On a side note, the wireless version allows the AMP to be at a wireless location. The buttkicker platform is still wired to your system.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

What kind of sofa is it Beta? The left and right recliners sounds kind of like my sofa. If so... the bass shakers are plenty, and you can adjust them to your personal tastes and each individual soundtrack with the gain and crossover controls on whatever amp you get to power them. If your sofa has consoles like mine... you can just drop the amp in the console and make the adjustments while you are sitting and can feel them.

it's a Berkline "newport", but it doesn't have any consoles/storage

[kingofgrills]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I'm considering getting a pair of Aura-Bass-shakers (they're only like $50 each) and attaching them to the under-side of my sofa....... the sofa has a metal frame that rests on the floor, so I'll have to attach them to one of the wood-cross-members, but nonetheless, it seems like a cheap upgrade..... I'm not sure how much I'll really get from the "affect" but friends have told me it would be "really cool to do" so for the sake of my guests' enjoyment, $100 isn't too much to at least give it a try.

Since I have a new sofa now that has reclining left and right seats...... I may start with one of these, and mount it under the center seat, and see how much of an affect that has...... I certainly don't want it to shake too much...... I want to enjoy films, not go on an amusement ride


This is certainly an upgrade/modification that doesn't really need to be planned on from "Ground-up" so adding it to an existing setup shouldn't be a problem for you.

Beta, there are a few different classes of Aura Bass Shakers, so do your research carefully. You'll want to make sure you buy the higher grade bass shakers, which do not cost much more than the base models. Unfortunately, I don't recall the model numbers.

[Chaco]

ok i took a quick look at the OP's HT gallery before posting...

nice setup..

to give you a quick background, i was on ur shoes a while back. i added the bass shakers and i gotta say that i cant believe why i didnt do this sooner...

when i bought my new receiver, i used my old one to power the bass shakers, i went to partsexpress.com (which their warehouse is 10 mins from my house) and got 2 Aura bass shakers for $45 each they can handle 50watts.

i put a Y split on my SUB OUT of my main receiver. 1 goes to my subwoofer and the other one goes to the input of the old receiver. you wire the bass shakers as you would speakers, and voila! u have vibrations...

i have a reclyner and a couch... i mounted 1 on each.... while it feels very strong, i want to add another one on the couch so the vibration feels more even anywhere you sit... i just took a piece of plywood 20x8 and screwed it to the couch and then the shaker to it. u want it as tight as possible so u get all the feelings.

i gotta say that my sub hits good, but there is just an extra enjoyment into feeling it on ur body and listening too.... best mod i have made... women, children, men, they all love it when i crank it up and it vibrates....

so going back to your setup... i would put 1 per chair, and wire them on series depending on the receiver you use.... you will love it and never look back.

enjoy

PM me with any questions, ill be glad to help ya