For some people, the draw of a heavy bass are the satisfying vibrations it causes. But, what if you don’t want to have the bass all that loud? What if you don’t want to wake the kids, or the neighbors with your annoying bass? That’s where the ButtKicker comes in.
The ButtKicker is one of those gadgets you’d only ever see at a show like CES. What it does can almost be drawn from the name: it shakes your chair or couch in response to the bass of your media. On the show floor ButtKicker has a couch where you sit and feel the device in action. After sitting through the extended Sherlock Holmes trailer with the ButtKicker I can say it’s just as annoying as a loud bass. Sure, it gives an interesting experience at first, but by the end of the trailer the novelty wore off, and I was left yearning for a decent subwoofer that I could tune down to a less annoying level.
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I have owned a Buttkicker for five months now. The first week I had the same impression that you did, I found it annoying and why did I spend my money for it. But while watching a full length film, and after the Buttkicker was adjusted properly, than the shaking is experienced appropriately during key scenes in a movie not throughout the whole movie.
No shaking when there is no scene indicating a shake or explosion, slight vibrations when a scene has it and big shakes during an explosion. In Iron Man, the flight scene, fighting the tank and armor testing are good examples of the variations the Buttkicker can provide in motion simulation.
The Buttkicker allows you to have your sub properly calibrated with your surround stage for correct sound volume and still have the shaking experience during certain scenes instead of your sub being too load and overwhelming. ( My wife and cat appreciates this aspect) Since your only experience with Buttkicker is from a trailer at a exhibit, than yes it is too much shaking all at once since you are being hit with all the key explosives scenes in a movie to encourage you to buy it. You may want to consider trying it out properly adjusted for a longer period of time before writing it off as a novelty item.
I now find this is the only way I like to watch/feel action movies.