Buttkicker Amps are Not Available - Alternatives? - Page 2

Yeah I used the behringer EPX4000 as recommended by people here, just remember you're gonna need a preamp for both of those ~40 bucks approx

...but none of these come with remote control, do they?

I got the same canned email response from Guitammer.
Has their supply been really out for 18 months??
Anyone have an idea what their supply problems were?

THe BKA300 amplifiers will be available probably next week. Their problem was with suppliers. I was recently reassured that it was not an issue any longer, and they were getting back on track.

No they dont come with a remote but do you really need it? Just adjust your settings on your receiver. Tweat the AMP setting so it matches your receiver at various output levels then all you need is power button...

I guess we'll see come February...

It is now February, and no amps from Guitammer.

I'm thinking of using one of the alternatives suggested above. I see a lot of folks using pre-amps, too. Is that necessary when using the LFE output from my receiver?

If I've got 4 Mini Buttkickers, it is suggested that they are wired 2 in series and both series in parallel. I guess that maintains the 4ohm load. What if I were to wire 2 in parallel to each of the 2 outputs from a Crown or Behringer amp. I would then have more selective control of 2 sets of 2 Buttkickers. But now the load would be 2ohms. Is that a problem?

Thanks for your help!

Most of my BKA300 amps were shipped yesterdays to the customers. The BKA-1000-4N amps are still on the back order, but should be available soon.

I will never purchase another BK amp. Nothing but problems. I have six chairs (thanks Roman), that have Buttkickers in them, that I will probably never be able to use again. The two BK amps I have are boat anchors. I would guess that I used my kickers a dozen times. Then the amps stopped working.

Randy,

Have you contacted the Guitammer? They would replace them as long as they were under the warranty. They are usually very good with the customer service.

Spoke with Mark at Guitammer yesterday and he is telling me it will be March before the BKA1000-N and BKA-130-C amps will ship. As Roman mentioned, BKA300 series amps are shipping now.

The BKA-300 amplifiers are also backordered!

If I use a Behringer or Crown amp hooked up to the LFE output from my receiver, will I still need a preamp?

I'm looking at the Behringer EP2000 to drive 4 Buttkicker LFEs, but haven't messed with resistance and such in years (used to be into car audio a good bit). First question is of course if that amp would drive 4 Buttkickers, I was thinking it would. It can do 2x1000W at 2 ohms, or bridged for 1x2000W at 4 ohms. I was looking at running it bridged to drive the 4 Buttkickers wired in series.

So, sanity check...will the above work? Been doubting myself all night. Thanks!

Edit: I'm pretty positive the above would work for the mini Buttkickers, but curious about the regular ones as well. I'm figuring it'd work better with the minis.

4 buttkickers wired in series will give you 16 ohm, unless you use BK-LFE concerts, If you do then it will be 8 ohms.

I would recommend wiring 2 BKs in sequence, another 2 in sequence, and then wire the sets in parallel. that will give you 4 ohms with BK-LFEs and 2 ohms with BK-LFE concerts.

Ah, gotcha, thanks Roman!

Roman, I'm sure they are out of warranty. Boat anchors....

I've given up on waiting for the BKA-1000Ns to arrive. Without sounding like a noob-sauce, oops-too late... I'm looking for the perfect fit for my 2 rows of 3 seats. I had 2-BKA1000-4As, one for each row. Please tell me what to purchase (Crown XLS 1500-is it enough power?) how many, exactly which pre-amp if necessary as they are wired 2-parallel with 3 in each series. My media experts hooked it up and with your help, maybe I can do it myself. I don't want to experience blowing them up again when showing the buttkickers off.

I own a Denon AVR-2808CI receiver (to use as a pre-amp?!):
http://usa.denon.com/us/Product/Page...808CI(DenonNA))


Thanks for any recommendations in this matter in advance. Remember, I don't know the ohm stuff, just want to plug and pray...

Perfect, thanks to both of you!

My second buttkicker amp blew after they replaced it. Is this the one you are talking about that will work with the wired buttkicker? I only have 1 to power.

http://www.amazon.com/Crown-XLS1000-...120538&sr=1-24

I use 2 of the parts express 240 watt plate amps to control my 4 buttkicker advanced shakers. They work great. I can control which chairs are on so guests that dont like that shaking feeling ( women ) are happy.

I'm also in a situation where I need to find an alternative solution for powering three Buttkicker Advance units.

I've read this thread, and looked into some of the pro amps mentioned here, but I'm leaning towards using a subwoofer plate amplifier for each Buttkicker in order to have independent control over them as well as having built-in low pass and auto-on features. I also find that most of these amplifiers have a smaller profile, possibly allowing me to hide them out of sight, such as underneath my seating (Recently ordered three Fusion Lagoon's - thanks Roman!).

What I've been struggling to figure out though, is just how much power do I actually need for a single Buttkicker Advance? The specs say that it can handle between 75w-400w, does this mean it would be adequately powered as long as it's somewhere in this range? Would I be missing out on anything if I decided to use a 100w amp to power a single unit? I'm considering using a Dayton Audio SA100 from parts express (I'm unable to post a URL, sorry).

I also plan to send the signal using the Outlaw OAW3 wireless bridge that others have mentioned in this thread.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

I've got 4 Buttkicker Advance units powered by the BKA-300 amp giving them each 75watts. The transducers REALLY shake the chairs with that power. I've got the amp turned down to about 60% so there's plenty of room at the high end to toss me out the chair if I wanted. My impression is that turning up the amp not only increases the intensity of the shaking but also increases the sensitivity of the transducer to non-shake-worthy sounds (ie low toned music) not just LFE material.

Viewing "Real Steel" will knock your fillings out!

Awesome, so it seems like 100w per Buttkicker Advance should be more than enough, thanks for the reply!

The BKA1000-N has variable cutoff but some of the alternatives (europower, behringer) don't have that feature. Isn't the variable adjustment an important feature when driving buttkickers?

Yes, it is. You want to start as low as possible and tune it to the point when the buttkickers give you very realistic effect without being distracting.