Home Theater Forum and Systems banner

buttkicker performance

3K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  rhino2 
#1 ·
Okay I am on the verge of ordering a buttkicker amp to power my TC-2000 15inch sub. But on a couple of the forums I noticed some debate about the performance of the buttkicker amp since it was not originally intented to drive an actual sub. But I would guess for all intents and purposes it is an amp like any other (except for the nice low price tag). It seems to be a popular choice with folks along with the behringer ep models. My question is for those of you that have one, or have listened to one driving a subwoofer. How is the overall sound quality and performance. I am fairly new to this whole surround sound, home theater game and so I want to make sure that what I purchase will sound good (even with my virgin ears). And so I look to the advice from those of you with more experienced ears and tastes.
Ilkka I know you had one in the Finnish sono's you just helped with, what did you think about it? Everyone, tell me yea or nay.....
 
#3 · (Edited)
I had seen that review previously and it speaks highly of the amp but doesn't delve into it's performance in relation to an actual driver and not a transducer. I might be worrying about nothing especially considering the low cost of this amp but I hate to order one and find out it is not what I want. Any other owners out there that are happy with their results??
Ilkka have you finished your tests of the LLT sono's yet? I am curious to see how they stack up against other designs.
 
#4 ·
I had seen that review previously and it speaks highly of the amp but doesn't delve into it's performance in relation to an actual driver and not a transducer. I might be worrying about nothing especially considering the low cost of this amp but I hate to order one and find out it is not what I want. Any other owners out there that are happy with their results??
Here are two happy Buttkicker users.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=725955
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=726584

Ilkka have you finished your tests of the LLT sono's yet? I am curious to see how they stack up against other designs.
If you mean GP tests, no. There is around 1' of snow in Finland at the moment, so no GP testing is possible. We'll see what happens after winter, that is around late April.

The tests I promised on the other thread were in-room tests. I should have them shortly (a few weeks maybe).
 
#6 ·
I will definitely post the type of results I get. I wish I would have thought of the forum sponsors sooner. I already ordered one earlier today and when I was poking around the site later I actually came across the fact that he carried them as well. The price is fairly close so I probably would have ordered off of him depending on shipping costs but it is already too late. Oh well I am sure there will be more opportunites to upgrade other items in the near future. I already got bit by the upgrade-itis bug and it is only a matter of time until I start showing the symptoms......
 
#7 ·
Okay I am on the verge of ordering a buttkicker amp to power my TC-2000 15inch sub. But on a couple of the forums I noticed some debate about the performance of the buttkicker amp since it was not originally intented to drive an actual sub.
What problems were brought up that concerned you? No, it wasn't intended as a sub amp and hasn't been tested as such, but I like mine since they seem very powerful and are dead quite. There are probably amps that'd test better in the $300-$400 range, but mine was an "extra" as part of two LFE kits on a powerbuy (one drives both LFE's), so it was only about $100 when considering the cost of a separate transducer. In that situation, it was a no-brainer.
 
#8 ·
Well my only real concern was THD. Since it is driving a piston (which is what is in a LFE buttkicker) clean power and THD don't enter into the equation like it does for a speaker. Nobody seems to have had any problems with it yet so hopefully I am worrying about nothing.
 
#9 ·
Well my only real concern was THD. Since it is driving a piston (which is what is in a LFE buttkicker) clean power and THD don't enter into the equation like it does for a speaker.
Yeah, no idea on THD. One thing that has occured to me though is that a 3lb piston is likely a tougher and more reactive load than a speaker's cone/voice coil, so the amp should be operating well within its capabilities. It's stable with a 2 ohm load, for sure.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top