ButtKicker BK-GR Gamer
by Buttkicker
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List Price: Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of ButtKicker BK-GR Gamer
Customer Review: Great addition to my home theater -- Attached it to my metal futon
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently brought this item in view of adding it to my existing home theatre system. Before this, I had researched the item through the company website and other reviews.
Since my existing home theatre was good in delivering bass, but I wanted to add a little extra kick(esp the lower end and some vibrations) to the whole thing. I have a metal futon and so finding a suitable metal post for adding the buttkicker module was not difficult. The only surprise that I had was that I was hoping the amplifier to look as small as a modem, but infact it is as large as a cornflakes box and has a very irritating cooling fan which is as noisy as a small table fan.
As the product mentions that this buttkicker gamer is only meant for chairs that have a metal post to attach the buttkicker module, I decided to take the risk of purchasing this item(only $50 after the MIR) because I already have a metal futon to attach the module.
Here is what I did to synchronize the buttkicker gamer with my Home theatre system -- I took a audio line out from my home theatre with a long RCA cable to all the way to my futon bottom where the actual buttkicker amp was located. The amp had to be kept under the futon so that I can have easy access to the on/off switch and the controls. The buttkicker module was fixed to my futon frame. Initally the settings of the amp were un-tuned, and as a result of this I felt high vibrations on my futon which were very un-pleasant. After experiencing this and the noise of the cooling fan, I wanted to return the buttkicker back to amazon. But then after playing around for a while with the controls I fine tuned it, to provide the vibrations only at very low frequencies that my subwoofer had missed. This way, I was able to enjoy the movie and 'wow' my buddies. The 100 watt amplifier is more than enough power to shake the futon. I had the volume position set to around 30% only and it was terrific - Watching movies was never the same, I could feel all the vibrations and action on my futon itself, so there is no neccesity for purchasing the costlier model that is available from buttkicker.
My suggestion is to not avoid the subwoofer completely and add this buttkicker, for the reason being that if you do that then you may not be able to wow your buddies because they may be curious to know how the futon vibrates without the subwoofer. Hence having the subwoofer and fooling them by saying that ther subwoofer is causing the rattle would lower their suspicion levels and your folks will not be curious to peep under the futon. Another word of caution is that not to leave the amp in the ON position throughout the day/night as even if by any chance there is a small spark or something from these electronic items, the futon bed can catch a fire -- This is just a precaution for all general electrical devices and not to mention that the buttkicker would neccesarily produce a spark/fire etc..
Bottom line is:
Pros:
Nice vibrations are induced making it more realistic when watching movies
Excellent addition to a home theater
100 watts amp power is definetly more than enough power
Cheap subwoofer alternative($50 after MIR)
Cons:
Big size amplifer
Noisy cooling fan
No remote for the amp
Not sure about the performance of the buttkicker module on wooden sofa's or wooden futon's because of the requirement of metal post for hooking the buttkicker module
Customer Review: With a Virtual Racing Chassis & Fanatec Setup
Summary: 5 Stars
My Video Racing Chassis (VRC) gaming chair sits very low to the ground and there is no way to connect the Buttkicker without modifications. I knew this before I purchased it but thought it would be worth the trouble, and it is!
I installed a 15/16", 1/2" ratchet socket to the back of the chair that gave it a 3" long cylinder about 1-1/8" in diameter to attach the Buttkicker to. This was accomplished by drilling a 3/8" diameter hole in the back to one side and using a 3/8" socket head cap screw with large washers on the inside and outside back of the chair. The cap screw went from the front to the back to attach the 15/16" socket with a lock nut. The lock nut fit on the inside of the socket and I was able to use a 1/2" socket to ratchet it tight to the chair. Then it was easy to attach the Buttkicker to the socket on the back of the chair.
I have a Denon receiver that I attached the RCA splitter to at the sub-woofer output. One end attaches to the sub-woofer the other to the white plug on the back of the Buttkicker amplifier. I had to purchase different male/female couplings for the splitter though because I needed a male rather than a female attachment to my amp and also the sub-woofer required a different coupling.
Once I set everything up, just took a few minutes, I could not get it to work at all (at least that is what I thought). Then I realized that the Denon was not outputting the bass at a high enough output to use the Buttkicker. I was able to change all the speakers to minus 12db and to change the sub-woofer to plus 12db and that fixed the problem after I also realized that the volume of the included amp needs to be increased way up, at least for my setup.
It seems that the volume resets to the lowest setting each time the amp is turned off. I have the remote attached to my setup so that I turn everything on and then increase the volume or intensity to the max. Also it seems that the amp goes into standby mode after 20 minutes (even when I am racing on Forza 3) and so that I will be racing along and have to hit the remote on button to turn it back on. A minor inconvenience.
The results are that I can feel the road, on some of the tracks through towns are cobblestones, feels just like the real thing. Go off the road onto a strip or grass and you can feel that. Just a whole new dimension to the game. The Fanatec wheel and pedals have their own force feedback but this brings the chair alive too. Well worth the trouble of the modification for sure.
Two points. If you are having trouble getting it to work with a receiver make sure the receiver settings for bass are set to high. Also make sure that you have the volume (intensity) of the included amp turned up.
Customer Review: bassgitars are not good for the un-astronauted nor is the shuttle launch
Summary: 3 Stars
Why would you hook a motor gasket to your easy office deluxe(or whatever chair) to rumble at the slightest hint of bass. Don't listen to Rush(as in NOT Limbaugh) with this thing. The heavy gitars and odviously Thu Gedster's thump'n bastad sword of dbase will kill! At least don't listen to Vapor Trails or Counter. Rapsters and techno music is perfect. As for games, most games are story emirsive that I play(as in RPG and the adventure types) but action FPS benifit slightly except for a loss in coordination if you use foot pedals or a percision mouse. Airplane, and rocket sims(there are few of those) are the best as you can max it for the rumble in the capsule sim affair.
Movies are only good at lower settings and your chair has to handle the pressure. Mine supports my fat-a&^ 250 lbs bod but rolls on tiled flooring. Get the bigger model that is for the couch and lounger.(unless the girl that lives next door is completely deaf and has sensitive feet, or so I'm told.).
Spaceships are cool and counter the tension of bordom and restlessness in the mundane world of rewardless afterhours with the feeling of exileration and "traveling". Try a sim as in MS Flight Pro 04 or the un-user friendly space stuff. An Army or War game or movie is good too, but everything else is just a novelty and I forget about it after a while and remove the hardware. Icaris(or other name) crash sequence in 'Planet of the Apes' is just priceless(max it to total distruction to "can yer krev".), a theme-park sim in 1968 even in ot-six. Also Star Trek Generatons "Riker Incident"(not so sim). but not the rest of the movie. Can thu chair and get a better boom. Subs are not as expensive even at "higher" RMS and "Burst". You won't upset the neighbors with a High RMS at low volume.(knock on wooded flooring panels).
P.S. Dudley Simpson's Doctor Who music is rediculous with this thing. Use with caughtion, can cause death from excessive laughter at the arch-humor levels.
Customer Review: great gaming/home theater add on device
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best addition to my videogaming I have made in a number of years. It simply clamps to the center post of an office chair, and the included power amp receives the audio outs from virtually any audio source (receiver, pc soundcard, game console, even ipod) . Hookup is intuitive, and takes about 15 minutes total.
For racing games , especially racing sims like RfactorrFactor V. 1.255 or GTR2GTR 2: Realism Redefined, this bass shaker adds about as much sense of immersion as a Forcefeedback steering wheel does. It makes you feel the true roar of a throaty v8, the thud of the curbs when you roll over them, and numerous other sound effects that you never really paid attention to beforehand suddenly come to life. Used in conjunction with a forcefeedback steering wheel (Logitech PlayStation 3 Driving Force GT Racing Wheel you will fall in love with your racing games all over again, it's just awesome.
It also enhances other videogames as well.
I also like using it with headphones, for late night videogaming and movie watching. It lets you feel the bass sounds forcefully without disturbing anyone else. Additionally, I even tried wedging the device under the bottom of my couch, and found that it could shake the whole couch quite forcefully simulating huge special effects from movies.
Definately worth buying, and not very expensive compared to the higher end Buttkickers (ButtKicker BKA300 Wireless Home Theater Kit with ButtKicker Advance and Power Amplifier, with more bang for the buck, and a good sampling of what the more powerful versions might offer.
Customer Review: Well worth the after-rebate price
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd recommend this product highly to any friends who like the feeling of bass rumbling through their bones, but don't want to worry about excessive volume causing deafness.
The bad review here titled "Good for Inducing bowel movements" is a gross exaggeration; the author most likely set the amplifier volume to the max, which is unnecessary. I haven't had to set the included amp's volume higher than one third or half--it's more than enough to get good movement out of this thing without overkill move-when-someone-coughs.
I will agree with complaints that the fan volume is surprisingly loud. Quieter than my computer's case fans, but loud enough to remind me to shut it off when I shut down my computer. If you built your computer to be silent, or you plan on using this thing with a home stereo system instead, then you may want to invest in a non-gamer model of product from this company so you can use a different, quieter amp.
Other than amp volume, there's a couple buttons and knobs to customize which sound signals will result in movement from the device. The instruction manual has a chart of suggested high/low frequency cutoff settings for games, music, and movies.
That's the most user-friendly part of the manual, though. Some of the diagrams seem to be of older editions of this same product, so I was confused for about 5 minutes about whether I'd damage my product from improper wiring.
It turns out there was an extra cylindrical thing included, but not shown in the manual, called a "ground loop isolator." Apparently it's there to prevent damage to the device. After reading the red paper attatched to this thing, plugging everything in was easy.
So to repeat my overall impression of this thing, I'd strongly recommend it to any friends who like the feeling of bass, but don't want to worry about excessive volume causing deafness.