Hello all!

Here is another contribution for anyone interested in buttkicker installations. First I would like to thank the people from the Guitammer Company for all their knowledge and assistance. Special thanks to Marvin - "the engineer".

At the end of this tutorial, I will list some of my questions and answers from Marvin. This information was very useful to me.

Here is the diagram that was supplied to me as a reference to build the LFE mounts.


http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/ButtKickerAccessInPlatform1.jpg

http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/ButtKickerAccessInPlatform2.JPG


Start out with cutting 4 pieces of wood to fit between the long beams in your riser. In my case I had two long beams running throught the center of the back ruser each about 20 inches apart.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt005.JPG

Get your glue.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt010.JPG

Predrill holes where you can if you want to.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt020.JPG

Put some gule on the wood...
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt015.JPG

screw one side of the box parts together.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt025.JPG

Prepare the glue on the other side.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt030.JPG

screw the other side together.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt035.JPG

Vola! A rectangle is born.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt040.JPG

Cut some strips of wood out to temporally screw on these rectangles so that when you place between the beams the box does not fall through and the top is flush to screw in the box.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt042.JPG

They are almost ready to install.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt045.JPG

Drill air holes before you install the rectangles for air flow for the kickers as they may heat up.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt046.JPG

3 holes in each side is enough.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt047.JPG

Predrill in the screws to make the install faster.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt048.JPG

Add more glue if you want to.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt049.JPG

Install the rectangle with the strips of wood you added to the top to keep the rectangle flush with the rest of the riser top.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt060.JPG

Screw in the rectangle.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt065.JPG

Screw in the other side.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt070.JPG

Both installed.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt075.JPG

Another angle.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt080.JPG

Add additional wood to make the double walled rectangle for each installed kicker. Left kicker.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt081.JPG

Right kicker.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt082.JPG

Cut mounting boards for the LFE's.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt085.JPG

Find the center of the boards.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt090.JPG

Mount on center and mark holes with marker.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt095.JPG

Plug in favorite toy.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt100.JPG

Use drill press to make holes
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt105.JPG

Mount screws in LFE with washer, lock washer and nuts. I used 1/4 machine screws.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt110.JPG

Top view of the panel with LFE installed. I drilled finger holes to help with future maintenance removal.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt115.JPG

Riser covered!!! Buttkickers are not installed yet, just placed upsidedown to see if they fit.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt120.JPG

Another view of the risers.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt125.JPG

Close up shots..
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt195.JPG

Another close up.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/butt200.JPG

Here is a diagram to wire 3 kickers on one BKA1000-4 amp.
http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/wire3buttkickers.JPG

Here is a diagram to wire 4 kickers on one BKA1000-4 amp.
http://www.thebuttkicker.com/images/wiring%20diagram%20-%204%20ButtKicker%20LFE's%20to%20BKA1000-4.jpg


I will be doing a modified version of this with 2 amps. Two LFE's for the back and two for the front, each pair on it's own amp. When doing it this way, the LFE's should be wired in parallel (2 home runs from the amp wire nutted to terminate at the amp or one run to the center of both LFE's, a wire nut with 2 lenghts of speaker wire to terminate at each of the LFE's. I'll be doing the former and spicing the wire at the rack so that maintenace is easier if necessary at the splice. I'll be doing this for each amp and pair of LFE's.


http://blaze.gotdns.com/gk/basement/buttkickers/wiring4kickers2.JPG







Question and answers from Guitammer:

Q: Should the lid be a tight fit on the riser top?

A: Placement of the lid to the rest of the top skin, should be centered and spaced by about a saw blade width. (1/8th inch gap)


Q: The run to the back riser will be 15 feet of wire to the first kicker
and then 4 feet in parallel to the second. The run to the front riser will be 20 feet of wire to the first kicker.
Is 14 gauge good enough or do I need to use 12 guage?


A: #14 would be fine at that length for one LFE, so if you use the #14, run one cable for each LFE.
#12 would be best at that length for two LFEs connected at it's end.


Q: Is there a difference in power usage when using the LFE's (4 of them on one amp) versus the seat versions of the kickers on one amp? Would it make more sense to go with one amp per two LFE's if I want more shake?

A: Its not the size version of the BK shakers that makes the four vs. the
two to one amp. It's the way the number is wired and therefore also how
much power each one gets. When an LFE is mounted in a chair, the LFE
does not have to operate at full power, like it would if it was trying
to shake a whole floor. Since it does not need full power to drive a
single seat, we devised a way to wire multiple LFEs to one amp (special
wiring) to make it more economical for the customer by saving him the
cost of one additional amplifier. When the four are powered by, and
correctly wired to one amplifier, then the amp supplies 1000 watts to
its load which is the four units. This 1000 watts is shared by the
four, hence 250 watts each.

So the difference here is the way the units get wired - whether the full
size or mini's - while they are operating 'under powered' the power
level has shown to be a good balance for the recliner seat.

Thanks for checking this out, all comments are welcome!

Again, special thanks to Marvin from Guitammer.

Gary

Any comments? improvements on this method?

gk

Excellent post.

Can you add a picture of the whole where the buttkicker wooden plates will rest on your stage (ie. prior to installing buttkicker wooden plate and buttkicker).

Test them yet? How does this method work? Is it a fairly even shake throughout whole platform?

Regards
Frank Dodaro

Excellent post.

Can you add a picture of the whole where the buttkicker wooden plates will rest on your stage (ie. prior to installing buttkicker wooden plate and buttkicker).

Test them yet? How does this method work? Is it a fairly even shake throughout whole platform?

Regards
Frank Dodaro

The pictures above show where the buttkicker wooden plates rest on the the stage (they are not installed yet in the pictures above) - not sure what you mean.

as for testing, that will be happening within a week.

thanks,

Gary

Gary,

Nice job. I will be almost completely re-doing my theater very soon and will be moving my butt kickers from the recliners to the platform. In other threads I have read where people fill platforms with sand for acustical reasons. Obviously we can't do that with our risers or they'd be incredibly heavy. Is the filled-with-sand platform only for the stage/screen end (asssuming you have a stage)? I am confused.

This has most likely been talked about before but sometimes it's hard to find the tree for the forest.

Thanks,

Todd

The pictures above show where the buttkicker wooden plates rest on the the stage (they are not installed yet in the pictures above) - not sure what you mean.

as for testing, that will be happening within a week.

thanks,

Gary

Basically in the forth last picture (ie. last picture before three diagrams) you would basically remove the buttkicker (along with the wooden plate it is attached to) and then take a picture of the hole. I just wanted to see the amount of lip that the buttkicker's wooden base will rest on.

Looking forward to your response on the testing.

Thanks
Frank

Gary,

Nice job. I will be almost completely re-doing my theater very soon and will be moving my butt kickers from the recliners to the platform. In other threads I have read where people fill platforms with sand for acustical reasons. Obviously we can't do that with our risers or they'd be incredibly heavy. Is the filled-with-sand platform only for the stage/screen end (asssuming you have a stage)? I am confused.

This has most likely been talked about before but sometimes it's hard to find the tree for the forest.

Thanks,

Todd

People usually fill their riser with insulation. The buttkicer company reps actually say insulation in the riser is not needed but I would still suggest using it (helps prevent stage from resonating like a drum). I have filled my riser with insulation and also have two buttkickers installed in it. I have never heard of anyone filling a riser with sand. The sand would most likely kill most of the buttkicker's effect.

Some people have filled their stage (at front under screen) with sand. One reason for doing this is that it helps to isolate you sub (assuming you are putting your sub on your stage). My stage will be small and not have either sub or speakers on it. I will be filling my stage with insulation only.

This is one of the most valuable posts I've seen in a long time! I hope you don't mind, but I printed it to a PDF file for future reference!

Regards,

Kyle

Hi,
Great job on the tutorial. I was wondering what you were using for isolation feet on your riser?
Thank You,
Cory

Hi,
Great job on the tutorial. I was wondering what you were using for isolation feet on your riser?
Thank You,
Cory

Cory, Hockey pucks. Check his post in his construction thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7285109&&#post7285109

Bud

How are the mounting boards for the LFE's attached to the riser? Are they simply screwed? The question looks simple but I wonder if anything special needs to be done to prevent the board from getting LOOSE...

I have never heard of anyone filling a riser with sand. The sand would most likely kill most of the buttkicker's effect.

Some people have filled their stage (at front under screen) with sand. One reason for doing this is that it helps to isolate you sub (assuming you are putting your sub on your stage). My stage will be small and not have either sub or speakers on it. I will be filling my stage with insulation only.


Of course we can't put sand in a platform that we want to move. :) Thus my statement "Obviously we can't do that with our risers or they'd be incredibly heavy." I was just wondering what to put in there. Does insulation really do that much? I can't see it doing a whole lot, maybe changing the frequency of the resonance. I'll go ahead and fill mine with insulation since that seems to be the consenses. Perhaps it should be fairly densly packed?

How are the mounting boards for the LFE's attached to the riser? Are they simply screwed? The question looks simple but I wonder if anything special needs to be done to prevent the board from getting LOOSE...

I was thinking the same thing. Why not mount the buttkicker down inside the framed box, and just have the mounting boards be access covers? That way you're not relying on the screws of the mounting board. I think the reason Buttkicker recomends doing it this way is so you can get at the screws on the buttkicker. I don't think it would be hard to mount the screws to a recessed mounting plate and then set the buttkicker onto the screws and install the nuts.

Cory, Hockey pucks. Check his post in his construction thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7285109&&#post7285109

Bud

Looks like you have too many hockey pucks. When I spoke to the Buttkicker folks I too had feet spaced about every 4'. They said to use as few as four feet even on a 16' span (one at each corner), 6 would be ok too but not as effective as four. The problem with only four is the weight, using four 220lb feet would allow for about 880lbs. Not too hard to get that much weight if you have seating for four adults on your platform. Remember, the whole idea is to let the entire platform flex. Gary, perhaps you should "test drive" the platform before you get too far along. I am not an expert on this but I have been talking to the Buttkicker people about my design. I think you said you had talked to them as well. I'm surprised they didn't comment on all the feet. Hocky pucks are pretty hard aren't they? I don't think they will flex at all, therefore you should get rid of most of them. I don't think just allowing the two center joists to move is going to give you the best effect.

Thanks for the direction to the hockey puck thread chinadog, i didnt see that, and again thanks for the tutorial gary. I have to agree with nowandthen, on how many pucks you have under there, my riser is dang near like yours, its 6'5 x 8'11 room for 3 berklines, i wish to keep it down to only four points of contact to the actual floor, and also hockey pucks are perty hard arent they??? I thought i read on buttkickers website about using automobile coil springs cut down?? that doesnt sound bad. And then there are rubber stoppers, how big can one get in those?? I was wondering how air inflated moving cart tires on rims would do??? You would be able to adjust the air in them for maximum performance. And to be honest, if i didnt have my riser completely done yet, and i still may go with this, i would go buy 4 of them cheap moving carts at home depot or menards, remove 4 of the wheels and tires off the axles, lay them back, and weld them together, sheet the top and sides. It would be quite a bit lighter than the wood frame. And i know it sounds expensive to do but the rubber isolators are perty expensive!!! the cheapest i seen was like $13.00 ea. You can buy one of them carts for like $20.00 on sale. I hope this does'nt sound to far fetched. But we do cross the line when we start to call it a dedicated theater room!!! LOL
Cory

i wish to keep it down to only four points of contact to the actual floor, and also hockey pucks are perty hard arent they??? I thought i read on buttkickers website about using automobile coil springs cut down?? that doesnt sound bad. And then there are rubber stoppers, how big can one get in those?? I was wondering how air inflated moving cart tires on rims would do??? You would be able to adjust the air in them for maximum performance.

... And i know it sounds expensive to do but the rubber isolators are perty expensive!!! the cheapest i seen was like $13.00 ea. You can buy one of them carts for like $20.00 on sale. I hope this does'nt sound to far fetched. But we do cross the line when we start to call it a dedicated theater room!!! LOL
Cory

Cory, I like your idea of inflatable tires. It has always kind of bothered me that I'm designing a platform based on load, but that load can vary quite a bit. There may be one person on the platform or as many as eight. Adjustablity would be ideal.

IF I use the isolation feet that Buttkicker recommends, four 220# may not be enough. I wonder if I put two 220" in each of the four corners if that would do the trick. Or one 220# with one 120#. My platform will be about 15.5' x 9'. Putting two in each corner will allow maximum flex of the platform yet still be able to handle the load. Then again, 3 along the short ends may be the best comprimise.

In the end I'll pass my design by the folks at Buttkicker and see what they think.

So guys, once buttkickers under the riser are in action, what do you feel in you chair? Is it just vibration?

Gary,

Nice job. I will be almost completely re-doing my theater very soon and will be moving my butt kickers from the recliners to the platform. In other threads I have read where people fill platforms with sand for acustical reasons. Obviously we can't do that with our risers or they'd be incredibly heavy. Is the filled-with-sand platform only for the stage/screen end (asssuming you have a stage)? I am confused.

This has most likely been talked about before but sometimes it's hard to find the tree for the forest.

Thanks,

Todd

Sorry for the late responses guys.... been too busy building instead of reading!!

Anyway, I filled my risers with encapsulated insulation and I even duct taped the open ends after cutting. I did this because I will have air flow under the riser and I don't want to breath in any insulation.

Gary

Basically in the forth last picture (ie. last picture before three diagrams) you would basically remove the buttkicker (along with the wooden plate it is attached to) and then take a picture of the hole. I just wanted to see the amount of lip that the buttkicker's wooden base will rest on.

Looking forward to your response on the testing.

Thanks
Frank


The buttkicker holder "plates" I built rest on a full 1 1/2 lip made from 2 x 6 material. Those boxes I built in the thread are the lip it rests on - completely. When looking at the top of the riser, it is a box in a box for each LFE, so that the plywood around the kicker has a full 1 1/2 lip to screw and the LFE plate has a full 1 1/2 inch to screw down on.

Gary

This is one of the most valuable posts I've seen in a long time! I hope you don't mind, but I printed it to a PDF file for future reference!

Regards,

Kyle

Thanks very much!!

Gary

Hi,
Great job on the tutorial. I was wondering what you were using for isolation feet on your riser?
Thank You,
Cory

Hockey pucks as Bud stated. I hear ya all on the too many hockey puck theory, but after my testing I don't think I will have a problem.

On the back riser with the 2 LFE's installed as described in the pictures, I screwed down the LFE plates (with the finger holes for removal access) with 3 screws on each side. I used 2" screws and sunk them a little. Come to think of it, I may have used 2 1/2 to really sock them in.

I put on the Matrix sceen 29 and 30 to test them. Morphius rescue. As expected the center two seats will get plenty action. Felt like an earthquake in progress. The 50 cal helicopter machine gun was awesome coming through the LFE's. The outer edges of the platform did not shake much as that part of the riser is made very firm (all the duct work in on the far left and far right). This should work out well as the outer two seats will offer less shake for the people that want less.

As for the front riser, just tested that as well. That one was installed on the top of the riser as I do not have clearance under the platform. That one LFE alone, is not shaking the platform as much as I would like. I may remove the top and remove the one hockey puck I have in the center of the front riser to resolve this tomorrow.

If this doesn't fix the front riser, I will sell the single LFE and buy 3 seat versions for the front riser only. I already have the dedicated amp for the front riser in place and I really want more kick in the front riser.

The real problem with the front riser is that I ran the beams the short way, not the long way as in the back riser.

I have everything pre wired for 2 LFE's in parallel or 3 seat kickers in serial.

Gary

How are the mounting boards for the LFE's attached to the riser? Are they simply screwed? The question looks simple but I wonder if anything special needs to be done to prevent the board from getting LOOSE...

Yes - with 3 screws on each side of the rectangle plate. I used 2" or 2 1/2 inch screws and sunk them a little. Those plates aren't getting loose.

Gary

Also, as for the LFE's, I used 1/4 machine screws, lock washers, washers and nuts for each LFE hole. I drilled 1/4" holes in the ply for a snug fit. They should not get loose either with the lock washers in place.

Gary

Of course we can't put sand in a platform that we want to move. :) Thus my statement "Obviously we can't do that with our risers or they'd be incredibly heavy." I was just wondering what to put in there. Does insulation really do that much? I can't see it doing a whole lot, maybe changing the frequency of the resonance. I'll go ahead and fill mine with insulation since that seems to be the consenses. Perhaps it should be fairly densly packed?


I didn't really densly pack it, just enough to fill the open spaces. I had a lot of insulated flexduct running through the bottom that took up most of the space.

Gary

Looks like you have too many hockey pucks. When I spoke to the Buttkicker folks I too had feet spaced about every 4'. They said to use as few as four feet even on a 16' span (one at each corner), 6 would be ok too but not as effective as four. The problem with only four is the weight, using four 220lb feet would allow for about 880lbs. Not too hard to get that much weight if you have seating for four adults on your platform. Remember, the whole idea is to let the entire platform flex. Gary, perhaps you should "test drive" the platform before you get too far along. I am not an expert on this but I have been talking to the Buttkicker people about my design. I think you said you had talked to them as well. I'm surprised they didn't comment on all the feet. Hocky pucks are pretty hard aren't they? I don't think they will flex at all, therefore you should get rid of most of them. I don't think just allowing the two center joists to move is going to give you the best effect.


You guys have to take another look at the design. I don't expect to have shake around the edges or even in the front 2 feet of the riser (where all the wiring is). The only shake I plan to have is on the 4 x 8 sheet of ply resting in mid air suspension on the 8 foot long 2x6's. The mass of hockey pucks does not have a negitive effect in my case as they are around the perimiter and not where the flex is happening.

Gary

Thanks for the direction to the hockey puck thread chinadog, i didnt see that, and again thanks for the tutorial gary. I have to agree with nowandthen, on how many pucks you have under there, my riser is dang near like yours, its 6'5 x 8'11 room for 3 berklines, i wish to keep it down to only four points of contact to the actual floor, and also hockey pucks are perty hard arent they??? I thought i read on buttkickers website about using automobile coil springs cut down?? that doesnt sound bad. And then there are rubber stoppers, how big can one get in those?? I was wondering how air inflated moving cart tires on rims would do??? You would be able to adjust the air in them for maximum performance. And to be honest, if i didnt have my riser completely done yet, and i still may go with this, i would go buy 4 of them cheap moving carts at home depot or menards, remove 4 of the wheels and tires off the axles, lay them back, and weld them together, sheet the top and sides. It would be quite a bit lighter than the wood frame. And i know it sounds expensive to do but the rubber isolators are perty expensive!!! the cheapest i seen was like $13.00 ea. You can buy one of them carts for like $20.00 on sale. I hope this does'nt sound to far fetched. But we do cross the line when we start to call it a dedicated theater room!!! LOL
Cory

At $13 a pop for isolators, I decided on rubber hockey pucks at $1 a piece. I like the air inflated moving cart tire idea....

Gary

So guys, once buttkickers under the riser are in action, what do you feel in you chair? Is it just vibration?

Good question... I won't be able to answer this for another month. Carpet is coming in 3 weeks (or so) and then the chairs go in.

I'll post the covered risers tomorrow, carpet samples, gom samples, etc in my other thread.

Gary

I did the fixes on the front riser this morning. I removed 9 hockey pucks and just kept the left and right short side pucks - 3 each. The center is very bouncy now like a suspension bridge. I tested it out and it is awesome now. Thanks for the thoughts everyone and making this a better process.

I brought the wife and kids down for the WAF. My 10 month old loved the stage vibrations. My son thought it was a cool ride. The wife liked it too, but I think it was shaking too much for her. She will probably sit in the right back where the shake is less.

Having the 2 amps will allow for the back and front to be controlled seperately. This will be useful when I only want the front to shake.

Gary

Gary,

I'm glad to hear you have both of your platform designs performing to your satisfaction. I guess it just goes to show there is more than one way to skin a cat! I think the important lesson is to test the design before you get everything finished.

I did notice your design had the two center joists "free floating". Great job! You've now proven that a stiff perimeter is possible for those that may require it.

Happy shaking!

Todd

I quit reading once the hockey puck discussion started so sorry if these have already been addressed.

Two things I want to point out. First is the huge bends in the AC ducts. I'm no HVAC guy, but won't that many bends in such a short span create a lot of pressure for the HVAC blower? If so, you are going to wear out your blower just trying to quiet down the air flow. Previous HVAC flex duct suggestions were for slow sweeping 90s. Those are rather sharp 90s.

Second thing is the Kicker mounting. The box is nice and sturdy, but the kickers aren't mounted to the box frame, they are mounted to the loose lid. You turn those on and they are likely to rattle the lid like crazy rather than moving the riser. The shakers should be mounted to the riser, not the box lids unless you are going to screw the lids down. Even then, it might still be better with the shakers mounted to the riser frame than the plywood lid.

Two things I want to point out. First is the huge bends in the AC ducts. I'm no HVAC guy, but won't that many bends in such a short span create a lot of pressure for the HVAC blower? If so, you are going to wear out your blower just trying to quiet down the air flow. Previous HVAC flex duct suggestions were for slow sweeping 90s. Those are rather sharp 90s.

I had to snake a few HVAC ducts through my house. An HVAC guy said it wasn't a big deal, and he turned out to be right. A straight shot is best, for air flow, but I suspect Gary is trying to do one or both of the following: reduce the amount of sound that escapes the theater and/or intentionally create some lenght (back pressure) for this run in order to not disrupt the distribution to the rest of the house.

Gary,

I'm glad to hear you have both of your platform designs performing to your satisfaction. I guess it just goes to show there is more than one way to skin a cat! I think the important lesson is to test the design before you get everything finished.

I did notice your design had the two center joists "free floating". Great job! You've now proven that a stiff perimeter is possible for those that may require it.

Happy shaking!

Todd

I am excited as well! and thanks!

Gary

I quit reading once the hockey puck discussion started so sorry if these have already been addressed.

Two things I want to point out. First is the huge bends in the AC ducts. I'm no HVAC guy, but won't that many bends in such a short span create a lot of pressure for the HVAC blower? If so, you are going to wear out your blower just trying to quiet down the air flow. Previous HVAC flex duct suggestions were for slow sweeping 90s. Those are rather sharp 90s.

Second thing is the Kicker mounting. The box is nice and sturdy, but the kickers aren't mounted to the box frame, they are mounted to the loose lid. You turn those on and they are likely to rattle the lid like crazy rather than moving the riser. The shakers should be mounted to the riser, not the box lids unless you are going to screw the lids down. Even then, it might still be better with the shakers mounted to the riser frame than the plywood lid.

No problem for the questions! For the duct work, I may not have explained it well. On the far left and far right of the riser I have the actual heat and cool 6 inch duct work with only one right angle and the whole length is only 6 feet. All the other 4 inch ductwork you see is not connected to the supplies. They are OPEN vents to the furnace room to make up air for the furnace and boiler. No pressure build up there.

As for the lids the buttkickers are mounted on, I screwed those down with 12 screws each to free floating long beams. There is no top rattling as those squares are secured to the riser directly.

Gary

All - I am in the process of building my riser, and after looking at these threads, I decided to go the hockey puck route. After calling to multiple stores and sporting goods stores. . .well, I guess it's hard to buy hockey pucks in the middle of summer in Nebraska, I found some for $.99 at Scheels.

I rush down there, and I started loading up hockey pucks when I looked next to them and they had a set of "foam pucks", which are less hard/dense, yet look to be a little more like a rubber dampener would look and feel like. I decided to take the plunge and bought a dozen of the foam pucks for $2.00 per puck. . .yeah, I splurged. I'm about to attach these babies to my riser, but wanted to see if anyone had used these types of pucks, and what their thoughts and experience with them would be.

I'm gonna give them a shot, and if there isn't any real downfall, I think it will be $24 well spent.

Sounds like money well spent!

Gary

Sounds like money well spent!

Gary

Any reason why the pictures do not appear? Is it my computer? I have the same issue with your construction thread, Gary...no pictures appear. Other threads are fine, so I don't know what is going on.

Thanks for any insight.

Mark

yeah - yahoo geocities has shut down my account because there have been too many views this month for my photos. I pay for the service, but the hits on my pics has exceeded the maximum for the month.

If I pay up, they only have a "add more space automatically for $$" feature where if I don't watch it I could go broke. Not that I have that many viewers, but I hate yahoo geocities and don't want to give them another cent.

I am looking for another site to host my photos, but will use AVS with the links for now.

I will upload the pics again in the thread with links as soon as I can.

Gary

I decided to take the plunge and bought a dozen of the foam pucks for $2.00 per puck. . .yeah, I splurged. I'm about to attach these babies to my riser, but wanted to see if anyone had used these types of pucks, and what their thoughts and experience with them would be.

I'm gonna give them a shot, and if there isn't any real downfall, I think it will be $24 well spent.


oldschl, Let us know how the foam pucks work out. Do they look durable enough to hold up long term?

Todd

Foam pucks are working out pretty well so far. They have some give, but not enough that you are sinking an inch everytime you step. I would say that they would have more give than regular hockey pucks, but I learned through trial and error that you have to countersink the screws into the hockey puck, but the good news is that there is no need to drill pilot holes in them. Just take your wood screw and blast one dead center, and drill down till about 1/2 to 1/4 way into the puck. I have yet to hear any kind of screw bottoming out, so things have been successful.

I hope to post some pictures once I install my buttkickers on the risers. . .hopefully this weekend.

Ed

oldschl, Let us know how the foam pucks work out. Do they look durable enough to hold up long term?

Todd

Hi Gary
Glad to hear you are doing some preliminary testing on your buttkicker install. Wow, you said you removed 9 hockey pucks!! That should of made a huge differance. Again, my riser is like yours. I do want to raise the question with the people that are using any kind of foam substance in there seating arrangement, weather it be under a joist or for their entire platform.
Will it stand the test of time?
I would think, that in time, with all the weight, the foam would be permanately fatiged?
And shortly, there would be no isolation?
Kind of like a Bed Pillow, we buy a nice, new fluffy pillow!! Ahh how nice, and then, a year or two later, the dang thing is flat and hard!!
So again, i just wanted to bring up that question.
I mentioned earlier in this thread, about maybe using air inflated devices of some sort. I decided against that for maintenace purposes. I ended up purchasing what one might call truck bed anchors, they were $2.00 apiece. They are a item that goes into your truck box holes, and you turn down an eyescrew that wedges a rubber block in there. I took them apart and am only using the rubber blocks under my platform. There will be 6 total. I have the rear platform tested and it works wonderfully. I have found that the most intensity is in the middle seat with less on the side chairs, but i am only running one shaker in the middle of the rear. The front mini platform with 2 chairs on it connected to the rear platform will be only one shaker.
I know your pictures are temporarily gone, and i cant remember, i know your 2 shakers are under your rear riser, but do you have your front shaker on top of the riser? in front? And if so, was wondering if you knew that the polaritys need to be reversed on the shakers that are mounted with the mounting feet down??? I know i was not aware of that, and when i called buttkicker (which was very helpfull). They informed me of that.
I hope maybe some of this info helps.
And am sorry if this is to much detail or such, for this thread??
Does anyone know if there is a general buttkicker category? Where all this isolation/buttkicker stuff can be dicussed?
Thank you,
Cory

I have the front risert kicker on it's own amp. I was not aware of the polarity difference for the top mounting which is how I have it mounted. I have only tested the front riser once and it seemed to work, I will check into the polarity issue though. Thanks for the heads up!

Gary

Pictures all fixed. Special thanks to Steve - SWithey for his help and hookin me up!

Gary

How many buttkickers LFEs would you put on a 6'x8' riser? The riser will have three seats on it. I am planning on putting 4 or 6 220 lbs kinetics isolators in the corners so it will be free floating.

Thanks

How many buttkickers LFEs would you put on a 6'x8' riser? The riser will have three seats on it. I am planning on putting 4 or 6 220 lbs kinetics isolators in the corners so it will be free floating.

Thanks

Two should do it.