My Buttkicker Install and Review

First try, I set the low cut off to off and the high cut off to the on position and set it at 50 Hz. The volume I set to about 10 O’clock position and first played a CD of songs I complied that have very low frequencies on them. I first noticed that my subwoofer didn’t seem as obvious as without the Buttkicker, yet didn’t notice anything from the transducer yet. I increased the volume to 12 O’clock position. Now I could feel that something was rattling the couch. Not sure I like this with music. I need to put a movie in with plenty of LFE.

U-571 chapter 15. Now we’re talking. I wanted more so dialed up the volume to about the 2 O’clock position. This seemed close to the right volume. War Of The Worlds has TONS of LFE, especially when the machines come up from underground. This really shook the couch. This is a sensation that is different than just a subwoofer rattling the walls and furniture. It provides more directional information, but I am not sure how. Star Wars The Phantom Menace at the pod races had the effects of side to side shake as the racing pods went from side to side of the screen. Very cool effect that I didn’t have with just the subwoofer. How does it do that with just one transducer? I guess it is the way the surround speakers combine to provide the directional input and the transducer adds the tactile sensation.

Black Hawk Down it felt as if I could feel the downwash of the chopper blades as they passed over head. It was a very real and being there sensation. I am not clear how it does this but it is impressive and involving. Once you get the settings to match up with your surround speakers, it is just amazing how much this adds to the overall experience.

I have now mounted the transducer directly to the couch by first mounting it onto a 2”X6” pressure treated pine board. I used ¼” X2 1/2” bolts with washers and ¼” nuts. I drilled four holes into the angle iron couch foundation and used ¼” X 2” bolts with lock washer/washer and ¼” nuts. This seemed very solid and should transfer the vibrations more consistently throughout the couch.

The first test is again with music. A very different experience this time. The vibrations from the transducer are much more controlled and seem more accurate. I am really liking this as it adds warmth to the music that it didn’t have before. Keep in mind that my subwoofer can rattle my whole two-story house, but this at moderate listening levels is providing a gut level warmth that just my sub did not.

This same CD with the standard mounting kit gave a less controlled vibration. It didn’t translate into the warmth that I am experiencing with the direct mounting. This is a major improvement! As I stated above, with just the standard mounting kit I did not like it with music. Direct mounting the transducer to the couch changes that totally. This is as much of an improvement as adding my subwoofer to my audio system. That said, this is NOT a replacement for a subwoofer, but it really adds to a system that has a subwoofer.

This test CD has tones that start at 10Hz. Using the mounting kit, I didn’t notice anything until 20Hz and it really gave a rattle/uncontrolled vibration at 25Hz. Direct mounting gave a much more controlled vibration starting at the 10Hz and continued on up. The rattle/uncontrolled vibration is gone.

The Sheffield Lab Drum & Track Disc revealed great tactile feel for the drums just not experienced before. Not just the bass drum, but the snare drums too. The delicate tactile feel is just great. This is a wow experience! It is making the hairs on my arms stand-up and take notice.

Classical music is great with this direct mounting. The 1812 Overture with real canon fire was very uncontrolled with the standard mounting. With the direct mounting it is controlled and adds impact at lower volumes. Without the ButtKicker, I would turn up the volume to get the subwoofer to rattle the house when the canon fire hit. I can get realism of the canon fire at much lower volumes with the ButtKicker. The same with pipe organ music. Bach’s Toccata in D minor, Holst’s March First Suite in E-flat major, Verdi Requiem Dies Irae, and Beethoven’s Fur Elise are all enhanced with this direct mounting set up.

Time to go to the movies with the direct mounting set up. U-571 chapter 15 rendered more controlled explosive charges. It was more subtle and realistic compared to the rattling it did with standard mounting. On War Of The Worlds I had to turn the volume down as it was bottoming out. It bottomed out before with the standard mounting but it is more noticeable now. This is not desirable. Bottoming out is a major distraction making you very aware of the transducer under you. It is far better to not know there is anything under you and think all the tactile sensation is coming from the subwoofer. It is all that much more engaging and realistic.

Gyro Drums on Animusic 2 was noticeably warmer with more tactile feel resulting in a more engaging experience. Heavy Light also from Animusic 2 gained warmth and smoothness with this direct mounting.

In my humble opinion, the difference in results, comparing the ButtKicker LFE using the provided standard mounting to direct mounting to the couch is like comparing a cheap $200.00 subwoofer to a well designed $1,200.00 subwoofer that is well matched to your audio system. The difference is that great, at least in my experience.

Would a home theater be improved with a cheap subwoofer if it didn’t have one before? Yes, but how much more so with a really nice subwoofer that provides accurate low frequencies you can feel and blends well with your main and surround speakers.

Reading on blogs how some will only use their subwoofer for movies and not for music tells me that they don’t have a subwoofer that blends well with their other speakers. It will add to the LFE in movies that the other speakers will not, but fails at adding lower frequencies found in music that blends well with the main speakers. Without direct mounting, that is how I feel about the tactile transducers.

The inherent problem here is that those that would like to try a tactile transducer to see if it would benefit their audio system is most likely going to only try the standard mounting. The big plus the standard mounting has is that it only sits under one leg of the couch. Very easy and simple to place and remove for a quick test of the tactile transducer. And if that is the only way I would have tested it, I would not want it for music at all but would have found it worthwhile for augmenting the Home Theater for those movies with lots of LFE.



The direct mounting makes a huge difference in the results. It is well worth the added trouble to direct mount the Buttkicker LFE to your couch. If you have the room under your couch to direct mount it, do it.

I had to get larger isolators for the feet of the couch. The ones that came with the kit were too soft and just squished under the weight of the couch and people sitting on it. With the larger and firmer isolators in place I had to turn down the gain as it was as if the amp had 4 X the power. It made a ton of difference getting the larger and firmer isolators on the couch feet. The larger isolators didn't sink into the carpeting as much and kept the frame off the carpeting so the vibrations from the transducer were not lost to the carpet. It all went to a more engaging experience for those setting on the couch.

Thanks for the detailed review, flashjet. I have to say I agree with you on the direct mounting. I have tried my Buttkicker LFEs on 2 different types of couch. The first is very similar (almost identical actually) to the one you have shown. I chose to bolt 2 of the mounts of the LFE directly to the frame, and use 2 of the provided rubber feet under the other 2 mounts. This worked really well, and gave a tight, controlled effect to all seating positions (I had one LFE unit under a 3-seat couch, and one unit under a loveseat). The current couches that we have are built with a wood frame, but I didn't want to lose that feeling of integration that direct mounting gave.

In this case, I built a "cradle" for each LFE out of 3/4" plywood. It was essentially a box with just the bottom and 2 sides forming a corner. With this layout, I was able to remove the fabric under the couch, and screw the cradles directly to the central frame in 2 places. If anything it might have strengthened the frame, and now the LFE units are centrally mounted directly to the whole couch. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of this process, I must have been too excited to get them installed, but it worked great.

As I mentioned in another thread recently, it took a little bit of tweaking to get the right crossover and volume settings, but once I got it to a place I was happy with, they really blended in well.

anyone know a good way to selectively switch on/off individual transducers and control levels individually. Ideally with remote.

I just bought the LFE bundle and extra LFE transducer. One will be installed in my chair and one in the sofa. I want to find a way to selectively turn each one on/off and adjust individual intensity. Ideally, I would like this to be done by IR/RS232/IP control, as all my gear is in the basement

Buttkicker does have a switch, but it still requires the amp to be turned off prior to changing the load and has no intensity control. Moreover, you then have to adjust the levels every time you change the number of transducers. Really lame for $150.

So how can I take a speaker lever input and split it between 2 transducers and adjust the level of each. I'd like something that does not require the amp to be turned off first (accident waiting to happen), so I guess I need something that takes a speaker input signal, presents a constant load to the amp and allows me to enable/disable each output and ideally adjust the level.

Any thoughts?

Regards

Mark