Buttkicker Advance wireless kit reviewButtKicker®
By Brett A. DiMichele
Before I start with the review I would like to thank Parker Clack of HTF and Randy Mullins of Guitammer for allowing me the opportunity to review the new wireless kit from Butt Kicker.
I’ve been here on HTF for many years now and I have been familiar with the products from Guitammer for some time now, and had been interested in the experience that a tactile transducer could add to the Home Theater. If I had to describe myself I would have to say that I am a bass freak, I love the sound of bass but more so I love the feel of bass. My current Home Theater is situated in my Living Room and bass duty falls on my DIY subwoofer which is comprised of an Acoustic Elegance AV12 driver mated to an Acoustic Research ARS500 plate amp, all wrapped up nicely in a 3 foot cubed enclosure. The problem with a powerful subwoofer is that, while it makes tons of shake and vibration it will also make so much sound that you will soon be at odds with your neighbors. So what is a bass head to do? How can we fully experience that brand new Blue Ray movie with all it’s high definition picture and audio, without disturbing the neighbors and them subsequently calling the friendly local police?
Fear not my fellow bass heads, for Guitammer has the solution!
If you are not familiar with the Buttkicker product I will give you a quick, non technical description. The Buttkicker is a Tactile Transducer. We know a Transducer is a motor and they typically move air. A Tactile Transducer is a motor without a cone, it creates vibration and motion without moving air. You typically use the product under a couch or a chair or even risers if you have elevated theater seating. For this review I chose to mount the Buttkicker Advance under my “Cuddler” recliner since that is where I spend most of my time when watching movies and casually listening to music.
I am one of those odd guys that will judge a product by it’s packaging before I even see or hear it’s performance. I was delightfully pleased when FedEx showed up with the kit and everything was neatly boxed in a heavy corrugated shipping carton and each component was display packaged inside the shipping carton. Further down in the review you can see the photos as I unpackaged the components that make up the whole wireless system. The quality of the packaging is just the beginning. Once I dug into the boxes and started pulling out the components that make up the whole system I was thoroughly impressed. The transducer and mounting plate are constructed out of aluminum and finished in what looks like powder coat, they even went as far as putting a machine finish on the end cap of the transducer. All of the included cabling is of very high quality and is all branded Buttkicker (costs more than just off the shelf wire) again very nice.
I chose to install the kit under my recliner for the review, since it was much easier to work with my recliner than it is to move my reclining couch or love seat (those things are HEAVY!). I flipped my recliner and removed the stock feet and mounted three of the five isolators that are included in the kit. These feet raise the height of the chair or couch to the same height as the base of the Buttkicker and they help to mechanically decouple the chair from the floor. I was able to have the system in place and in use within thirty minutes. Most of that time was setting up the boxes and components for the photos to go with the review.
The only issue I had with the setup was the step where you have to sync the wireless transmitter and receiver. The transmitter was a snap to find the button to do this. The receiver which is a USB dongle that plugs into the power amp, was a little more confusing for me. Generally speaking, Guitammer’s instructions were top notch, with that being said, I was apprehensive about pushing the button on the receiver. The instructions did not clearly show where to push on the receiver and I was a bit afraid I was going to break it. I finally grabbed a paperclip and straightened out the paperclip and was able to push the recessed button in the transmitter. Honestly that is the only part I had any problems with at all, and one simple line art drawing or photo in an addendum for the instructions will resolve that minor confusion.
Once in place I ran the Buttkicker through it’s paces with Iron Man, Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Dark Knight, all on BluRay and also auditioned music from CD, MP3 and via TheRadio.com. One of the super slick features of the Advance kit is the included remote control which offers a power button, intensity controls and preset EQ slopes for Movies, Music and Games. I found these presets to be right in line with their respective functions. The included B.A.S.H amp never ran out of steam to drive the Buttkicker and it never got more than just barely warm. Guitammer gives you a ton of speaker wire to run from the transducer to the amp. I found that I barely used any of the wire since I put the amp between the chair and the end table and used the included amp stand to stand the amp on end rather than lay it down.
So how did it perform? I can’t think of enough adjectives to describe how fun this thing is! Subwoofers will always have their place in our home theaters for the audible sound that we need, but if you really want to “feel” that punch, that kick, that gun shot or missile blast, then you need one of these! I can’t be more honest than to say this just adds so much to the total experience, it’s a kick in the pants (or more precisely, the butt) it really is great fun and a great addition to any home theater, big or small and I’m sure the rest of the Buttkicker owners out there will back me up on this!
Removing all of the display packages from the shipping carton
Components removed from display packaging
The muscle of the system, the transducer on it’s mounting pad (not shown in the correct orientation or bolted down)
The wireless remote control
Front shot of the B.A.S.H amp and cabling (notice how nice the included patch cables are?)
Shot of three of the isolators installed, one corner does not have an isolator, this is where the transducer sits and the
Chair sits on top of the transducer pad.
Shot of the transducer under the chair, I slid it up to take the photo, you do not know it’s under the chair when it’s in place.
