What kind of load to Auro Shaker Pros put on an amp? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Spencer]

Do the Aura Bass shaker Pros put the same type of load on an amp as a regular subwoofer does? I'm thinking of getting a cheap Sherwood receiver to power a couple pair (instead of a Partsexpress 110 plate amp) from Ccity for $69 and want to make sure I won't blow it (or the shakers). The signal will be LFE...

 

[Todd_Michael_R]

Depends on how many you have and how you wire them. Wire 2 in series, and you'll have an 8 ohm load. Wire 2 in parallel and you'll have a 2 ohm load. Assuming you are using two: As long as your intended receiver can do 100W into 8 and you wire in series, you should be fine. The advantage of the Parts Express plate amp, BTW, is that you can further filter out frequencies (using its built in crossover) above 60HZ should you just want the Shake coming through. It also has an auto-on mode which is handy.
Next time, try a search for Bass Shakers, there's a wealth of info here on those.
Regards,
Todd

 

[Jason Spencer]

Yes, I was going to run probably 2 in series (on one channel), eventually putting a second pair under my recliners (on the other channel). My question was really if they put as heavy a load on the amp as a subwoofer does. Reading other posts it seems a receiver does more work when pushing bass/subwoofers, so wanted to know if they put as much of a load as subs. After reading some car audio excerpts from aura's web site today, one of them did mention that they tested them and it did NOT put as heavy a load as a sub. I just don't want to over drive a cheap amp/receiver and blow it.

Thanks for the info, and I've already read most of the prior aura posts, just nobody seemed to ask these questions...

 

[Todd_Michael_R]

No problem. Always better to be safe than sorry.
Hope you enjoy your Aura pros with whatever you get to drive them! They do make one heck of an impact on the whole experience!

 

[Jason Spencer]

One last Q, if I did go the plate amp route, would it handle 4 auro pros OK? I was thinking of putting 2 pair of series in parallel, which will be between a 4-6 ohm load...
Only reason I don't do this for sure is if I do go the 2 recliner route, I was thinking I could just fade the amp (or if no l/r fader, unplug) the unused shakers so the seats aren't rockin with no one home.

 

[Jason Spencer]

Damn, I thought of a snag today, and just checked my couch and I think I'll need 3 shakers to do it right. The model I have is a full couch, with 2 recliners on each end. (Non reclining part in the middle).

I'm going to have to rethink my setup, perhaps only do one extra recliner seat (aside from the couch) now. Hmm, or do I just put the shakers on each end of the couch...decisions, decisions...

 

[Todd_Michael_R]

Ah! Your OP said "couple pair"!!! I misread it to mean 2 Aura pros and not "2 pairs". My bad!!
You should still be alright with the Parts Express plate amp (#300-792) with a 4-6 ohm load. Key word being "should." It's rated at 156 watts into 4 ohms, according to the website and accompanying PDF. That being said, you'll have no head room so you do run the risk of overdriving the amp. But OTOH you don't need much to feel the shake. YMMV.
I know there's at least one person on this forum using that plate amp to drive a handful of shakers...Don't recall his/her username though...
As for receiver vs plate amp: what's more important to you? Limiting frequencies to below 60Hz or having the ability to "shut off" a pair by adjusting the balance? If the former, I'd go w/ the plate amp. If the latter, I'd get the receiver. Later on down the road, you could get an outboard crossover if you get the "voices in your butt" experience.
Hope this helps.
Todd

 

[Pat Patla]

They have a 250W plate amp on sale for $119 right now, would that be sufficient to drive 4 Bass Shaker Pros in series and parallel?

 

[Todd_Michael_R]

In my viewm, that amp would be plenty sufficient. It doesn't take much to get these things going. I prefer to have my bass shakers just high enough so that they don't call attention to themselves when they're on. They just become part of the experience and act like an extension of my subwoofer, really. Of course, sometimes it's fun to crank em up on some of those LFE-laden scenes in TPM, Titan A.E., TS2, and the like.

 

[Jason Spencer]

With the 250w model you'd probably just wire them all in series. Should be enough power and you wouldn't have to worry about blowing them. Could probably run them the other way too for a little more power per shaker, but probably wouldn't notice that much difference if you're not running them full blast anyway. Only real reason I could see to get the 250 model is so you could add more than 4 of them and still have enough power to hit at least 25w per shaker...

After reading some other posts, I'm thinking of just getting the interactor vest and ripping the standard shakers out of it and using the included amps to run them. I can get a complete (single shaker) setup for $20 or less from ebay to see how it sounds. Then add more as I see fit...

 

[Jason Spencer]

Well I got my first Interactor vest last night, ripped it open (actually unscrewed it) and mounted the sucker to my couch. It's a lazy boy 3 part (with recliners on each end). I mounted it to a 3/4 thick 8" wide board (cut a hole in it in the middle and mounted the shaker there) and used drywall screws to mount it to the center section of the couch (non reclining). I wired it up with pretty crappy wires and stuff to my Sony SAWM40's pass through rca output (hooked to the sub out of the onkyo 600). Put it at about 3-4 volume, and wow, what a difference. It sure puts some kick into my bass. Actually made the sub sound a little less powerful (but in a good way, I think...

The best part is that it seems to carry the feeling throughout the entire couch. I have 2 more on order and don't know if I'll even need them (they'll go in the 2 separate recliners I have). I may try putting another one on the couch for fun (since everyone else who put shakers used at least 2), but I really don't know if it needs it. What does everyone think? Does it really improve the effect with more shakers?

 

[Jason Spencer]

Also, I didn't get a manual, what do the other switches do? I tried game mode and it doesn't do anything. In Movie mode, with A it seems to be the most responsive, and Normal is not far behind. B cuts it down a bit. None of them really seem to affect the type of effect, just the volume (just my quick observation). Also tried the "filter" and didn't notice a change. Leaving it at 0, volume at about 3, and in "A" and Music modes.

 

[Jason Spencer]

I finally got all 3 of the vests I ordered and the third one actually had a manual. After reading their discription of the a/b switch I believe what it does is split out the left/right signal. I originally had it wired up so that only one of the channels was getting a signal. When on the A mode it seemed the loudest. Normal was about the same, but B was lower. I then hooked it up with both left/right channels active, and it seems they are all about the same now. Don't know if this is true, but it seems that way. It says to use Normal mode if you don't have the game kit, so that's what I've switched to now.

It also said to put the filter on 10 to allow the maximum frequency to come in. The way I read the manual, 0 is actually the most filter. Of course neither setting seems to affect it as long as you've crossed it over at the receiver...

On another note, I did hook up a second shaker to the same middle section of the couch, and it didn't really make a noticable difference. I haven't done a lot of listening with just 1 or both sakers, so I'll do more testing as time passes. I also tried hooking them in series to one of the included amps and it worked fine. Didn't even have to turn it up much more. It was at 3 before and with 2 of them I turned it up to 4. Guess the extra shaker's output made up for the slight drop in volume/amps that 2 shakers on 1 amp makes...So my recommendation to those that may try this - start with 1 shaker per piece of furnature and if you have to turn it up more than 6 to get a distracting effect, they you may need a second shaker. Otherwise you'll probably be fine with just one. The second shaker made it more powerful, but since it was overpowered with the first one at 5 on the volume, I can't see why you'd need more than one on most couches...