Anybody use bass shakers?

Alright, here's my current system:

(after dec 25th) 24" iMac as a display and DVD player, optical output to

Technics SH-A500 dts/dd decoder The four surround outputs go to:

Technics SA-8500x, which is currently hooked up to 4 panasonic SB-550 big ass speakers, on custom oak stands that I made at school.

The center channel is the custom wall mount unit I linked to here: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7450

And right now, I have two choices for the amp to power my center... a technics SA-AX720 home theater receiver, or some weird funky sharp brand massive 2 channel amp that i can't find any information on.

Anyway, I currently live in an apartment, so I was thinking about getting some of these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=299-028

Seems like a pretty good deal at only $29 each, I was thinking about picking up 3 of them, 2 for the couch, and one for the love seat. Does anybody have experience with them? I'm just wondering how well they work as 'subwoofer replacements', especially since all my surrounds are fullsize speakers. I could understand that if I was using satellite speakers, that the lack of 'audible' bass would be kinda strange, but I don't think I'm going to be missing a whole lot, only the very very low frequencies, which should hopefully be covered by these puppies.

So ... yeah... any experience you ahve with these things would be good. Also, how much power do they really need? Would it be better to use that high powered 2 channel amp? Only downside is that amp has no volume control so I couldn't control how loud they get...

ideally, I was thinking about powering the center channel and the shakers with a vintage technics SU-7700, which has about 50 watts per channel. Would that be enough power for these modern shakers? Or do they really suck up juice, enough that I should probably use a more modern amp with a lot more wattage?

No takers eh?

I think that amp would be enough to power those shakers, I used some of them myself. I upgraded to ButtKicker later, but they do require lots o juice. You'll enjoy the effect, but I found that you really have to tune it so that it doesn't call attention to itself. It's surprising how the bass content of different sources is so variable, be ready to adjust the volume to the shakers frequently.

Which amp? The vintage 50 watts per channel amp?

I thought about installing these in my theater, but decided against them because they require their own amp!!! Too much stuff there already!

Yeah, that's okay though. You generally need an amp for a subwoofer.

Q8Repair said:

Which amp? The vintage 50 watts per channel amp?

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Shake your booty, get a 100 watt or more amp if ya can. Old amps are cheap. You might tryat this link, been using them for years. We did demos at CES with these fellows with the Millennium years ago.

http://www.clarksynthesis.com/

The best way to do quad is with 4 full range speakers and these as a sub. The feel is worth every penny!

Ah. Too late. I already scored a SU-7700 off ebay yesterday. And those look nice, but I'm cheap. I'm a student, still in school, building a pretty respectable system for not a whole lotta cash. We'll see how they run off 50 watts. If I need more power, then maybe I'll just get another SU-7700 and run them with 50 watts each.

Frankly, I always worried about these things shaking the wooden frame of my couch apart, or at least make it loose.

I doubt I could get that past the WAF.

Well, they got here, and I installed 2 under my love seat. I had to make some wooden plates that I screwed under the couch to brace them..... but I think it worked okay. Only crappy thing was after doing all this, then wiring them in series to get 8 ohms, then routing the wire to my 'temporary' technics 5.1 home theater receiver, I discovered there's no built in sub amp, which I swear I was reading it had. Argh. Just a sub output. So I lugged over my fifty pound quadraphonic amp, hooked up the sub out to that thing, and wired my bass shakers to that.

I popped in the rock... and ... eh... I could feel a little bit, but I wasn't very impressed. Then, on the DVD, I went to DTS, realizing that before it was just in stereo, thus it was not sending anything (or maybe barely anything) to the shakers..... anyway, I put on DTS... HOLY HELL. They were up WAAAYYY too much. It was like a butt vibrator. I turned the sub level down on my decoder to -9, and it was still too much, so I got up and turned down the quad amp to about halfway up. Then I turned the sub level on the decoder back up to about -3, and it blended in a lot better... but I'm still missing some low freqencies that arent' SUPER low... so it looks like a still need a sub. But **** it. This is still sweet. IT makes the ultra deep end frequencies REALLY come alive, and I know a sub would help the transition, but I'm done spending money for a while, and I really don't want to piss off my neighbors.

Also, it's a good thing I ordered them, the price on them just jumped up $10.

mrindenver said:

Frankly, I always worried about these things shaking the wooden frame of my couch apart, or at least make it loose.

I doubt I could get that past the WAF.

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My WAF factor wasn't a problem.... I wanted to either build a subwoofer, or get these. Considering these were 'silent' and simulated a subwoofer, I explained that this way we could have a lot of bass without pissing off our neighbors in the other apartments. They're also small, and completely hidden, so it's not like they're very obtrusive. You just need another amp for them. I used one channel from my quad amp to power them and it worked well... when my technics SU-7300 and SU-7700 get here, I'll use one of them, bridged, to power the whole set. The other amp I'll use to power my center channel, and possibly in the future, a small subwoofer.

That looks pretty cool. It must have been a shock when you first fired them up. I always thought they were meant to go in the floor sub-structure!

Actually, from the only instructions I can find on them, they were originally intended for automotive use. It says stuff like 'mount themt o the chassis' and whatnot.

Buttkickers are pretty much the same thing, and they install on your couch LEG, hanging off it about 5" or so. Then, the entire couch is put on little rubber discs, that allow the whole couch to shake more. I'm going to whip some of those up next week sometime.

I knew there was something like that for drummers. It's a chair with a bass shaker that is plugged to a stage mixer which is used to give the drummer the bass drum "feel" on his butt during a live performance.

Gee when i get my system put back together it will have 9 12 inch woofers do you think I would notice base shaker? @: :banana:

Yes, probably at lower volumes. Ultra low bass is felt more than heard anyway. Your ears really aren't that sensative to low frequencies.

I realize this is an old post, but I think it should be re-opened. Bass shakers are perfect for certain installations. I have installed them for some customers. Some of them live in Condos or apartments. Some of these guys have a 5.1 system or greater. Unfortunately, they cannot play it loud enough at nightime., The neighbors complain & the local code kicks into effect after 11 PM around here. We installed bass shakers into the furniture, connect it to a digital amp & we usually sell them Sennheisser RS 130 surround sound wireless headphones. This combo allows them to hear surround sound at nice levels that don't disturb the neighbors, yet satisfies the customer. Everybody is happy. I have some Accoustic Innovation Home Theatre chairs with built in Clarke Synthesis Tactile Drivers. Mine are suede chairs with built in motorization. Does the trick for me. You might not believe this one. In my Hot Tub out on the deck, I installed an Earthquake 10.0 Tactile Driver. It's a beast. We are Earthquake dealers. It's connected to an Earthquake 1,000 watt rack mount amp. It is remote controlled. I have a pair of Niles OS 10 Outdoor speakers around the Hot Tub. I programmed a system remote that works at the Tub location with an IR Niles System. I can even control the Tactile Driver in the Tub. This baby will put out enough low frequency energy to just about boil the water. It's mounted to the frame of the Tub on the inside. I also have an Earthquake Powered Subwoofer on the deck. The bass is strong. I mounted a Samsung HDLCDTV on the glass of the door to watch DVD or FIOS in the Tub. Also, I believe that old posts (2- 3 years old should be put into an Archive section.

Cool!

JonUrban said:

I thought about installing these in my theater, but decided against them because they require their own amp!!! Too much stuff there already!

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John: First, lets clarify the difference between Subwoofers & Tactile Drivers. Subwoofers are heard & seen (usually); Tactile drivers are felt & not seen. John: I'm sure you have healthy Sub (s) in your theatre. Bass is heard & felt (depending on how good your Sub (s) are). The real advantage to you adding tactile drivers to your Theatre, would be to add "the "feel" of the tactile drivers if placed properly to the frame of your furniture. Let me also say that all Tactile drivers are not created equal. The Earthquake 10.0 with matching 1,000 watt amp is the strongest TD I have found. You just can't beat this combo. I also have some Clarke Synthesis TD's in my Home Theatre Chairs. They work pretty nicely, but nothing like the Earthquake. Then there are basshakers. The basshakers require lots & lots of power. Many TD's need lots of power. Therefore, I do not believe you should just use any 'ol amp (or Quad amp) you find laying around the house for this application. We did an installation for a customer where we installed 4 inexpensive TD's into a rather large sectional sofa, but we used a matching Digital Amp. Even I was surprised how much it added to the overall sound. We provided him with Sennheisser RS-130 wireless Surround Headphones. The customer was thrilled with the results, and the fact that he could play it as loud as he wanted to without disturbing his neighbors. Another expensive option is: DBox. I have checked it out at Cedia Expo. I must say it is very impressive (& expensive) but it's beyond anything else. You have to buy the complete package (Their Home Theatre Chairs) with DBox drivers installed. There is nothing else like it because not only does it give you the Tactile bass, but, the chairs physically move your body up, down, side to side, etc. It's similar to a ride I was on years ago at Disney in Florida. the negative is that you need to buy DVD's (or Blu Ray Discs) encoded with DBox. The end result is beyond belief. The chairs have a sub- platform that moves your body all around. I'm not sure how successful DBox has been (sales wise). Also, I don't know how many DBox titles there are, and how accessible they are. I guess they will eventually include smellovision (so you will smell the scents of the movie. How about adding the Disney feature where the little animals run all around and they sneeze on your legs. It sure freaked me out when my legs got wet! What's next?

This is an aspect of the hobby I have not explored. I have to ask, is this a novelty or is it an addition to your system that is used with all music styles and movies? Does it get fatiguing? Since I seriously got involved in quad/surround in the ‘70’s I have enjoyed the fact that most aspects were doable by the home hobbyist with results that sounded and looked good. Are we getting beyond that with these shakers?

Justin