Customer Rating: 
Summary: Added The Missing Link To My Home Theater
Comment: Where to begin? Should I start about how this thing litterally kicks butt, or the excellent build quality? The LFE Buttkicker kit is now easily my favorite piece of home theater equipment, as the title of the review says it added the missing link to it. Everythings packaged extremely well, with the amp receiving some extra padding due to its weight. Now for me this wasn't a plug-n play install, it took me over probably 5 or 6 hours over the course of 2 days to get the thing installed properly. Don't get me wrong, you can have the kit ready to go in 15-20 minutes, I did, but the effects were only ok. One always needs to tinker with new electronics before they find that sweat spot, and this is the case with the Buttkicker LFE kit. At first I mounted it under my couch using the mounting kit, this installation worked pretty well, except that one end was rattling off my hard basement floor. Therefore I put a rug under the couch, this reduced the rattling but it was still present. I then mounted it under a T junction under the couch, and the rattling was pretty much gone. I still had to tighten some bolts, and even remove a bracket underneath for the kicker to have enough room. The effects were now pretty good, although I thought they could be even better. I therefore made my own mounting plate out of wood, and attached it across these two metal supports on my theater couch (with bolts of course). After doing this I noticed a substantial change in vibration, it was over my entire body more so. I concluded that the best effect will be given when the unit is somehow attached directly to your couch, that way the couch and the Buttkicker almost as one piece.
The build quality is outstanding, probably 90% of the parts are made of metal, which is really nice considering a lot of things are being made out of plastic today.The Buttkicker LFE kit will give you a better movie experience, just don't expect to much, it doesn't toss you around. You may also want to check your receivers LFE settings, mine was set to "0", I changed this to -10db, the result was a much deeper response from the Buttkicker, very nice indeed.
Overall I'm extremely impressed, I plan on getting another LFE unit for my other couch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: All movies are not created equal
Comment: When a movie has a good surround track with adequate LFE you will feel the tremors. Most movies do not have adequate surround tracks, or worse, the levels vary from movie to movie. You will find yourself adjusting the gain up or down or the cutoff up or down to get more or less out of the shaker system. I have had some movies bottom out the shakers and with the same setting the next movie has little to no LFE unless the gain is cranked.
I wish there was an auto tune or some other setup signal (done automatically) on the intro of each movie such that your surround system and shakers could be set appropriately.
The effect you get is mild shaking. Some movies have it just for explosions, others for elephants or large animals walking. I have seen 2 movies where the shaking is continous when the scene is inside a space ship or helicoptor ... when you hear the engine noise, you can feel it as if you were inside.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Totally Awesome
Comment: This system brings out the feeling of a movie that the director originally intended, but SPL's alone cannot produce this feeling. I have a pretty nice system and I cannot believe the difference with the Buttkickers installed. I have revisited my collection of movies and even when you know there is a scene of excitment coming, you cannot prepare for the feeling or jolt that comes with the LFE kit. When properly setup, this is totally awesome. Setup is easy, time consuming, but easy. You don't want the amp set so high that movement is evident by voices...set it up so it is transparent. You want the Buttkicker to work in harmony with your subwoofer. Now, you will feel what you are hearing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just what I was missing
Comment: This is a great product. Build quality is excellent,Performs fantastic,Simple and easy to setup,Very realistic low frequecy effects. This is a great finishing touch for any home theater. If nothing else the fun factor with this kit is off the charts.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding addition to a home theater
Comment: As a home theater enthusiast, I'm regularly tweaking my surround sound system for the best experience. Bass management can be a chore, getting the overlap between the subwoofer and the other speaker as natural as possible, yet still get the thumping bass experience. I decided to try the buttkicker, and it was the best "tweak" I've done to my system in a long time. Other have talked about the installation and benefits. So, I'll just mention that one reason I love the buttkicer is that I can still get that big bass movie experience without the high sound pressure levels you need from just a sub. So, you can watch a movie at a very reasonable volume but feel likes it much louder. If you like concert DVD's - the buttkicker really adds a life-like feel to the bass drum. A very cool, great product.
Summary: Added The Missing Link To My Home Theater
Comment: Where to begin? Should I start about how this thing litterally kicks butt, or the excellent build quality? The LFE Buttkicker kit is now easily my favorite piece of home theater equipment, as the title of the review says it added the missing link to it. Everythings packaged extremely well, with the amp receiving some extra padding due to its weight. Now for me this wasn't a plug-n play install, it took me over probably 5 or 6 hours over the course of 2 days to get the thing installed properly. Don't get me wrong, you can have the kit ready to go in 15-20 minutes, I did, but the effects were only ok. One always needs to tinker with new electronics before they find that sweat spot, and this is the case with the Buttkicker LFE kit. At first I mounted it under my couch using the mounting kit, this installation worked pretty well, except that one end was rattling off my hard basement floor. Therefore I put a rug under the couch, this reduced the rattling but it was still present. I then mounted it under a T junction under the couch, and the rattling was pretty much gone. I still had to tighten some bolts, and even remove a bracket underneath for the kicker to have enough room. The effects were now pretty good, although I thought they could be even better. I therefore made my own mounting plate out of wood, and attached it across these two metal supports on my theater couch (with bolts of course). After doing this I noticed a substantial change in vibration, it was over my entire body more so. I concluded that the best effect will be given when the unit is somehow attached directly to your couch, that way the couch and the Buttkicker almost as one piece.
The build quality is outstanding, probably 90% of the parts are made of metal, which is really nice considering a lot of things are being made out of plastic today.The Buttkicker LFE kit will give you a better movie experience, just don't expect to much, it doesn't toss you around. You may also want to check your receivers LFE settings, mine was set to "0", I changed this to -10db, the result was a much deeper response from the Buttkicker, very nice indeed.
Overall I'm extremely impressed, I plan on getting another LFE unit for my other couch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: All movies are not created equal
Comment: When a movie has a good surround track with adequate LFE you will feel the tremors. Most movies do not have adequate surround tracks, or worse, the levels vary from movie to movie. You will find yourself adjusting the gain up or down or the cutoff up or down to get more or less out of the shaker system. I have had some movies bottom out the shakers and with the same setting the next movie has little to no LFE unless the gain is cranked.
I wish there was an auto tune or some other setup signal (done automatically) on the intro of each movie such that your surround system and shakers could be set appropriately.
The effect you get is mild shaking. Some movies have it just for explosions, others for elephants or large animals walking. I have seen 2 movies where the shaking is continous when the scene is inside a space ship or helicoptor ... when you hear the engine noise, you can feel it as if you were inside.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Totally Awesome
Comment: This system brings out the feeling of a movie that the director originally intended, but SPL's alone cannot produce this feeling. I have a pretty nice system and I cannot believe the difference with the Buttkickers installed. I have revisited my collection of movies and even when you know there is a scene of excitment coming, you cannot prepare for the feeling or jolt that comes with the LFE kit. When properly setup, this is totally awesome. Setup is easy, time consuming, but easy. You don't want the amp set so high that movement is evident by voices...set it up so it is transparent. You want the Buttkicker to work in harmony with your subwoofer. Now, you will feel what you are hearing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just what I was missing
Comment: This is a great product. Build quality is excellent,Performs fantastic,Simple and easy to setup,Very realistic low frequecy effects. This is a great finishing touch for any home theater. If nothing else the fun factor with this kit is off the charts.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding addition to a home theater
Comment: As a home theater enthusiast, I'm regularly tweaking my surround sound system for the best experience. Bass management can be a chore, getting the overlap between the subwoofer and the other speaker as natural as possible, yet still get the thumping bass experience. I decided to try the buttkicker, and it was the best "tweak" I've done to my system in a long time. Other have talked about the installation and benefits. So, I'll just mention that one reason I love the buttkicer is that I can still get that big bass movie experience without the high sound pressure levels you need from just a sub. So, you can watch a movie at a very reasonable volume but feel likes it much louder. If you like concert DVD's - the buttkicker really adds a life-like feel to the bass drum. A very cool, great product.
Buttkicker BK-LFEKit Low Frequency Effect Kit with Amplifier for Home Theater Reviews: Page 2 of 3
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