Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Tactile Transducers (Buttkicker)

Hi All,

I know this forum is for Meridian products, however my system is nearly all Meridian and I need a little help.......

I have a problem that has been really bugging me for ages in my set up. I live in an apartment with neighbours and so I can't let my subwoofer loose. It really sucks as I really want to FEEL the movies. (Music is perfect from just the DSP5500)

I have been looking into neighbour friendly solutions.

The one that has come up time and time again is possibly adding a Tactile Transducer - Probably a Buttkicker LFE KIT

In my system I can hear the bass well but to just cant turn up the sub that loud to get the slam I would like.

Does anyone here have any experience with Buttkicker products for movies? I know that it is a more common installation product in the states compared to the Europe. I just would like to hear opinions from people who know Meridian kit and also have experienced such a product. I have heard good things about it on forums but I don't know how credible these sources are or what other kit they are using. I have a feeling that they will not be favoured on this forum so go easy ; )

My plan would be to run a Buttkicker with the sub.

I own a original buttkicker with a 2x350 watt bridged amp (the original package)

It is connected to a construction that stands on rubber isolators which has room for 2 chairs or a couch.

However i have mixed feelings. For some movies it is really great. For other movies the effect is too much.

It improved when i limited the frequency feed to the unit with a crossover. That is mainly since i was using all my speakers as small, so the low frequency of all speakers was feed to the LFE output as well.
Before the crossover it resulted to having fibration on moments you not expect it (or not want it) because there was information feed from all channels. So heavy voices, doors etc, all gave tactile feedback.

2nd improvement was the use of a noise gate. Basicly that opens when a certain threshold is reached and than closes also when the signal goes below a threshold. So it limits again the effect of the buttkicker in time a bit.

Now i get tactile feedback when there is really something happening, and not all the time in one movie, while another movie has not tactile feedback at all.


In the last year and half or so i did not even bother to switch it on. 8 months of that i was not living in my own house also..

I would plan to switch the buttkicker amp to 40Hz so it would only be the real low end frequency that will give the tactile feedback.

I was wondering if the tactile feedback is "tuneful" like a sub. Its difficult to describe really. I have FELT subs that really vary in low end output and give in depth feedback of the LFE from the movie. Im worried that the output of the buttkicker will be distracting.

All I want is to just feel the real low end slam from my movies. However I want it to feel like a sub if that makes sense.

Jaco, would you say that the feedback given is natural and adds somewhat to the movie experience?

It sure does give you extra slam. You can have less subwoofer output and still great experience with bass intensive moments since you feel them.
That is why i started using it. I bought them 2nd hand from someone with a wooden floor who had mounted it wrong. It did not work very well there.
With my riser (no idea if this is the correct word) it works very well.

I read you are from Danmark, perhaps you can visit a german dealer:
http://www.bts-privatkino.de/

I have ordered the rubber isolating feet (Kinetics shock absorber) via him, a nice person to deal with.

Thanks Jaco for the link!!!

I cant remember off the top of my head but I wonder if there is two subwoofer outs on my G68J..... If there is I wonder if its at all possible to set up my G68J to only output signals below 30Hz. That way I can gain more control over the output of the buttkicker?

That shop is in Hamburg, so not too far to travel perhaps.

Yeah its about 3 and a half hours to drive it. It might come to that. A nice little road trip is always fun. Especially when going to collect new toys.

You can always use a Y connector to split to two sub outs - or perhaps your sub has a passthrough (many do these days). I use a Y at the moment form my 861 and it works fine.

Hi nowayman,

I have a buttkicker with the 1100W amp that I bought here: www.fischer-amps.de

It drives a platform (4m x 3m ) out of wooden beams that rests on 6 rubber feet. On top of it I have 2 recliners and a sofa. You'd be amazed how much you get shaken considering the weight of the construction and several people sitting there!

I feed the sub signal through a Y connector into an equalizer (Behringer PEQ2200) then into a compressor/limiter (Behringer MDX1400) and finally into the amp. The reason for the 2 additional components is basically to prevent that the Buttkicker "knocks". This happens when the amplitude is too big and the internal mass hits the end of the possible displacement (like clipping in a speaker). It will not damage the Buttkicker, but it makes a rather unpleasant noise. Normally you will not hear the buttkicker (make sure to dampen it well when you fasten it; I put 2 layers of carpet between the Buttkicker and the wood I screwed it on). But you may very well hear your furniture (or the platform) rattle.

As you may know, sub sonic waves are very powerful. A 10Hz wave has a lot more power than a 40Hz wave. It's 4 times the frequency although it's just 30Hz away and well within the band you want to use as input for the Buttkicker. So I had to find a way that keeps the Buttkicker from "knocking". Simply turning down the volume didn't work. In some movies you get such low frequencies that you will not feel much on other occasions when you set the volume according to those few occasions. So the first step is to adjust the volume for the different frequencies according to their impact on the Buttkicker. I then introduced the compressor/limiter to first compress the volume (a "quiet" and a "loud" noise will both give you a kick that you feel, with only a certain differentiation in strength). The limiter serves as a final measure to cut away any peaks that might get through.

After a lot of try & error with the equalizer and the compressor/limiter I finally found a setup that shakes well over a wide frequency band and a wide range of volume. Don't worry too much that you twist and tweak the signal. This is NOT HiFi anymore, but that's OK since there's a reason we don't listen with our butts...

Don't let my explanations discourage you. You may well start with just the Buttkicker and the amp. Maybe you like the results. The 2 additional devices plus cables cost me a little more than 100,- Euro in total, so that's not very expensive.

Let us know how about your experiences!

Enjoy,
NutFlush


P.S. BTW, great movies for the Buttkicker are "The Haunting" (girl fleeing from monster, monster breaks through window & much more scenes), "Lord Of The Rings 2" (first encounter with a walking ent), "U-571" (when the waterbombs get dropped overboard)!

Awesome info, thanks.

Wow, NutFlush, Thank you very much for your detailed description of your experience with the product. I think im going to order myself one ; )

I just cant see any other solution with my living situation and every time a watch a movie It bugs me that I cant feel it as I should. I guess I will give it a go and see how I get on. I will be sure to let you know how I get on.

I cant wait to try it out with Cloverfield and monsters inc and and and and well..... I will just have to watch my whole collection over again wont I ; )

Hi guys,

just so you know what I was talking about:











Finally a video of a Buttkicker in action (not for the faint hearted!): http://www.myvideo.de/watch/686863/ARSCH_AUFREISSER

Enjoy,
NutFlush