The Official Bass Shaker, Buttkicker, Tactile Transducer Thread

[stcurell]

I have a Clark Synthesis 209 and I love it. This is the base model even below the Silver one and I find it has more than enough power. I have it installed (in my opinion) in a very efficient way and that probably helps- I am lucky to have a steel frame couch that provides a rigid installation point, and I also installed rubber isolation feet under the couch.

I've watched many bass heavy movies with it and it never runs out of power. The amplifier I have it connected to is a class A/B with 130w RMS. Like you said Big Daddy, it is important to have adjustable gain on the amp because there is a fine line where it meshes with the movie experience. If it crosses that threshold it is very distracting from the movie, and oddly you no longer hear the low frequency sounds from the sub. When properly adjusted it augments experience in a way that a subwoofer really can't, especially for the price! I would recommend one of these setups before upgrading your subwoofer- its a very cost efficient way to enhance your theater.

Another important feature to have on the amp is a crossover. Since this runs off the same signal as your sub you need a crossover on the amp to control the transducer individually. I set mine as low as it would go - 50 hz. Any higher and voices occasionally come through (my girlfriend and I weren't expecting that and we burst out laughing.)

Another thing to note about its performance- (can anyone else comment on this as well?) There is a slight delayed reaction due to the fact that it is a large moving mass rather than a lightweight speaker cone, which renders it pretty much useless for hi-fi music listening. I would like to try an even better class A/B amp with a higher damping factor to see if this makes a difference.