Bass Shaker Questions... (1 Viewer)

[Mike H Wizard]

Hi everyone,

Where can you buy Bass Shakers at?

Do they sell them in any stores or are they only available for purchase over the net?

How much do they usually cost?

Thank you in advance,

Mike

 

[John Garcia]

My only question about bass shakers is WHY?

 

[Todd_B]

You will want to check either Ebay or Yahoo! auctions.

Most of the time you can get the Aura Pros for around $80 USD new.

The regular shakers will run you less.

Todd B

 

[rodney wiley]

E-BAY search for aura interactor vest I got 10 for 5 bucks a piece. With this 25 watt unit you get a small amp that has level as well as a crude x-over for 5 bucks its a steal!!! The only thing negative about these is you have got to spend the time taking them out of the hard plastic vest.

 

[DonnyD]

Smarthome.com has shakers of various models including BK, clark and Auras.

I've had some Pro Auras in my couch for about a year and would not do without them. I feel they add so much to the movie experiemce and most who have experienced them, have to have a pair.

BTW: I power a pair of Pro Auras with a cheap 100w amp which is fed the same signal as the sub.

 

[Jason Spencer]

Has anyone done any comparisons between the interactor verion on the shakers and the regular ones? Will the pro's give better/more accurate effects?

 

[John H]

My only question about bass shakers is WHY?

In my opinion properly setup tactile transducers will enhance the HT experience.

I have been using them in my setup for several years. My first installation was an array of 8 RBH FX80 models. I moved on to Clark Synthesis 329F's and their Platinum model when it made it's debut.

I currently use a pair of Original Buttkickers driven by a pair of Crown K2 amplifiers. I use them in conjuction with a pair of Velodyne HGS-18's.

John

 

[Brian Johnson]

I had some questions about these & would like to know if this type of receiver would work to power these. Would like to make this upgrade as cheap as possible, but dont know which type of receiver I can use to power the shakers.
The receiver in question, but not the one I plan on getting is at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ndexURL=0&rd=1 would a regular two channel receiver work ?
Thanks

 

[Darren Mortensen]

Brian,
The reciever would work..however, you will be sending a full range signal to the transducers. You ideally want only the "low end" audio signal or LFE signal to drive them. A relative cheep EBAY option would be a NHT M1/A1 mono amplifier with a adjustable crossover. Ussually had for about $80 used.
If you plan on using several of these Shakers, try a new or used Subwoofer Amp plate w/ adjustable crossover. New can be found at www.partsexpress.com.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I recently got a "bass shaker".
it's a big black cylindrical tube, made by a company called "SVS", you may have heard of them?

(seriously, when this thing is cranked up, the floor and walls shake so much I don't need anything else to give me tactile bass.)

 

[Darren Mortensen]

Yee Ming,
The SVS is NOT a bass shaker! It's an ASS SHAKER!

 

[Jim_F]

I have a SVS and a Buttkicker2. I love the SVS, but there is no comparison. I could play the SVS louder, but then it be out of calibration, and it still wouldn't make my sectional sofa (and the floor on which it sits) shudder like the BK2 does. Also, the BK2 does what it does with minimal effects on adjacent rooms (and their contents)

As far as amplification goes, I'd choose a receiver that's quite stable into 4 ohms. All of the TTs I've researched are pretty low impedance. The big ones have considerable power demands as well. The Carvin 1000W piece serves me well for the BK2

Yesterday I was showing the opening scene of Gladiator to the folks. The display on the processor read "-45db"

Mom: "It's so loud the floor is shaking!"

Me: "The floor is shaking because there's a floor shaker bolted underneath it."

Mom: "Yeah right."

Me: "No, really."

Mom: (smirk of disbelief)

 

[Arron H]

Do bass shakers only affect the sofa that they are installed on? My wife is not as enthusiastic about bass as me. This might be a good alternative, ie, my sofa shakes and hers doesn't

 

[Jason Spencer]

Brian Johnson: I strongly recommend the Interactor Bass shaker. I have 3 of them and it works GREAT! They come with an amp that is plenty powerful enough. All you do is unscrew the backpack and mount them to your couch (chair). It took me an hour with a little preplanning (while ebay guy was shipping it). I spent about $30 for 3 of them (They seem to have been selling a little more now, so you may pay $50 for 3, but it's still worth it). You can run 2 shakers per amp, so you can keep any extras for spares just in case.

I'd say to use 1 per (couch) section if you want maximum effect, but if you're the only one who really cares about them (my wife likes it but isn't gonzo like me you can get away with 1 per couch (mine is a 3 piece and works fine with 1, but it's more defined if each person has a shaker under them).

If you're really wanting to go the regular shaker route, I'd stick with the partsexpress plate amp. Any receiver will work fine though, just use a 2 channel one and make sure you hit 8 ohms (2 shakers in series). As long as you have another receiver and use the SUB out you'll be fine without additional crossovers.

 

[Jason Spencer]

Arron H: Generally speaking, yes, they only affect what they are connected to. If you happen to have wood floors and can get to the underside (or even mount them to the floor under the couch) it could send the feeling all over the room (and into all your furnature). But that is a little crazy, your house isn't designed for that type of rumble. I'd just stick them to your couch...

If you have 2 separate pieces of furniture, it will be fine and only affect you. The way they work is by vibrating whatever they are connected to (solidly connected to). If you are talking about a sectional, even the cheapest model of shaker (the one in the interactor vest for example) will shake the entire couch. But it's a nice effect. Who knows, your wife may prefer it over the loud subwoofer after a few movies anyway...

 

[Jim_F]

The producers of the more powerful TTs seem pretty confident that their products are not a threat to the structural integrity of a home. I'm inclined to agree. The actual displacement is only a couple of millimeters or less. It just feels like a lot more. I elected to use care with respect to plumbing strapped to nearby joists, and had to address a rattle in a heat duct, but other than that, it appears to be no more, and quite possibly less stress on the floor than walking on it.
In my case, I don't even power up the BK2 for quiet movies. If I watch 2-3 loud/action movies per week and there's a few minutes of hard rockin' LFE in each of them, that doesn't amount to much of a threat from a properly installed TT to my home. On the contrary, I've heard of more harmful vibrations emanating from a cranked subwoofer (though still nothing approaching a threat to the structure itself)
Now, I'm sure there's somebody out there who would bolt a monster TT to a wet plaster or ceramic tiled wall, but certainly nobody on HTF would do such a thing.

 

[Michael Gdwn]

How is it that you would mount the aluminum bass shakers to a metal fouton? Should I put them inside the cushion cover?

Should I try getting a wooden board, mounting it to that, and then putting it under the cushion? Should I try mounting it to the medal?

Thanks for help

Michael

 

[Mike Gl]

Brian Johnson, you asked:

"I had some questions about these & would like to know if this type of receiver would work to power these. Would like to make this upgrade as cheap as possible, but dont know which type of receiver I can use to power the shakers. "

Yes, the receiver will work. As Jason Spencer suggested, one approach to provide a suitable low frequency input is to use the subwoofer output (LFE signal) from a home theater receiver as the input signal to the auxillary input of the two channel receiver. This can be split if necessary to power a subwoofer as well as the bass shakers. I employ an older 50 watt per channel receiver to power two bass shakers on each channel. The receiver has a low frequency filter (used on some older receivers to filter rumble that records sometimes generated), which I use to avoid low bass signals (

 

[Brian Johnson]

Do they actually "shake" the couch? Boy, I cant wait now. I picked up a pair of the pro shakers on ebay. And I was planning on getting the 120 watt plate amp from partsexpress. I have some cool ideas but not sure they are going to work. Will wait until I have everything here.

Till Then....

 

[Jason Spencer]

If you've ever sat in a massage chair, it's pretty much the same feeling (only set to match your subwoofer signals...); the couch will vibrate along with your sound.

Michael Gdwn: I second Mike Gl's fears of induced noise. You could try them mounted to the frame, as long as you can remove them if they don't work. As I said in my previous post, they work by TRANSMITTING a shake INTO the item they're attached to. The more area they are connected to (and FIRMLY connected to) the better you'll feel them. On your idea to mount them to a board under your cussion, I don't know how that would work. Sure it would shake some, but the best way to use them is attached to your couche's FRAME so the entire unit receives the feeling.

As a note to everyone, don't forget that these are supposed to AUGMENT your bass (subwoofer), NOT overpower it. While it may be fun the first few movies to have them turned up, the best effect is to be had when they pop up when you least expect them!