ButtKickers. Experience Anyone?

I was at the Rangers/Devils game last night and WOW! I saw some REAL ButtKicking!

When I was a young audiophile, everyone kicked my butt because it was such a geeky thing to be.

I use 2 of these in my HT (one "original" which is bigger and heavier) and one Buttkicker2. There are supposedly some minor performance differences, but they both feel about the same to my butt!

I'm also using the suggested Carvin amps (one is a something-or-other 1000 and the other is a something-or-other 2000). I'd suggest the 1000 watt amp unless you are considering the possibility of adding a second shaker (the 2000 watt amp can drive two Buttkickers with ease). In fact, you will need to dial them down considerably or they will shake like crazy.

They work great and impress your company. If you don't tell your invited lady friends about them first, they will chase women right out of the house! After a while, you probably won't use them too much. They do create a bit of a hum which is not noticeable when you've got "Unbreakable" cranked up, but it's not so nice when you're listening to Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" DVD. I like to use them for action movies and for concert DVDs which I've been watching a lot of lately. They're fun and surprisingly well timed with the delivery of heavy bass notes.

Do a Google search for Buttkickers, and you'll find some specifics about how to install them. This is important and makes a big difference in performance. I've had to build platforms for my listening chair and couch because I have concrete slab floors and they won't shake them! It was a big project, but I'm glad I did it.

(By the way, your Buttkicker search on Google may also lead you to some interesting fueds between the Hatfield-McCoy types of internet morons).

Although in a much higher priced category, you could also check out the Odyssee Motion Simulator by D-Box Technologies. Where the butt-kickers will just shake, the Odyssee will actually move your chair and it is VERY convincing.

http://www.d-box.com/html_en.html

Mike

I have seen the future of home theater, and it is the D-Box Odyssee! At 20k for a basic system it's out of the question for most people, but expect more affordable products in the future. You may even see it installed at a real theater near you soon. Think of it as the first time you ever heard surround sound in a movie theater. Now everyone has surround sound at home. Beyond movies, expect future motion seats to function with gaming systems, on-line games and simulators. Imagine sitting in your lazy boy and selecting your favorite F1 or Nascar driver and getting the live telemetry feed off the car piped right into your chair. Ask yourself how much would you pay for that? Not Convinced? Take a ride on the odyssee with Mario Andretti in the IMAX DVD Super Speedway and you WILL be. Considering the many thousands of dollars people spend on big screens, plasmas, video projectors, processors, dvd players, amps, speakers etc... a sub 10k price point would attract numerous consumers.

The buttshakers are nothing more than a buzz in your butt. I was annoyed with it in five minutes. With odyssee, it's a whole new dimension in entertainment. If I were you, I would save my cash and buy a nice sub for your system and skip the buttshakers. It's the best you can do for your bottom end, until the odyssee becomes a little more affordable.