Aura Bass Shakers @ PE Cheap  

I swear this ad is the same one I saw about a year ago!

Here is a link: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...022103-299-027

Those prices are for a pair of Bass Shakers if I am reading that correctly.

Our Price: $29.80 PR

Yes, you are. They used the 'pr'.

Thanks for the post mmb and the link Scott. I've been looking for some of these and that is a great price. I called them up and the price is for a pair of the bass shakers. I went ahead and ordered 4 pair for my theater. Now I just need to get hold of an amp for these for a good price.

Thanks again.

True, but those plate amps only get down to 40Hz. I would like to be able to set these as low as 20Hz if I felt like doing so. I am thinking about getting two 200(+) wpc, 5 channel amps for the theater. 7 for speakers, 1 or 2 for subs, and use the last for the Auras. Is it a bad idea to have these run off a multichannel amp being used for other speakers as well?

The 120w amp says that it delivers 156w at 4ohms. The shakers are 4ohms so I assume that you could drive 3 pairs with it.

Toxarch, the plate amps ability to be set to only 40 hz is the cut-off point for the roll-off of higher frequencies. If you were to cut off the high end of the sub spectrum at 20hz, you wouldn't get anything out of the Aura's, since they don't go that low. Resonant frequency is 42 hz, the PE ad says that they will do from 20-100hz, but I don't think they actually go that low.

Randy, you could drive three pairs with 156 watts. I have six Auras wired to the 300-794 PE plate amp that gives 180 watts into 8 ohms and 272 watts into 4 ohms, but I have it wired to see 6 ohms, so it is giving around 38 watts per channel or 226 watts total. Of course, I don't have the amp turned up very high...

Eric Olson has a faq dealing with amplification and other issues here . In answer to the question: "How much amplification do I need for powering my tactile transducers?", he says:

"Not much. Despite manufacturers specs on the order of a hundred or more watts per transducer, this much is actually dangerous. It is the same problem with speaker drivers at low frequencies but worse since transducers don't have the air spring to fight against. The situation is not a RMS limited
problem but instead a displacement (excursion) based problem. Manufacturers claim high wattage numbers inorder to sound impressive. If you equalize your transducers then even more of a burden is placed on the low frequencies (20-35Hz). I recommend 20W per transducer as a good number. A transducer bottoming out sounds worse than amplifier clipping. You can use more wattage per transducer but more attention to clipping will be required. This might be a good application for a tube amp or a soft/smooth clipping amplifier. 100W per transducer is just plain overkill."

You will also find the transducers go into physical clipping/bottoming out with other amplifiers.

I noodled around with the Aura shakers recently and wouldn't use another amplifier with them than the one supplied with them in the cushion/backpack.

Stick with the Aura amplifier - it has enough power and if I'm not mistaken, it has a built-in limiter so the over-excusion typical of other amp/transducer combinations is not possible. It's a Class B mono amplifier @ 21 watts into 4 ohms.

If you want to go with the Clark Synthesis or Buttkicker then you're talking a whole new performance envelope.

But the small Aura amps work! Phone Aura direct.

Max Christoffersen
www.audioenz.co.nz

Max, the Aura amps don't come with the shakers that are currently on sale through Part Express, which is what this thread is about. I know that Aura has a kit with the amps and shakers together (non-backpack or cusion), but this is not the case in this sale, it is just the shakers.
I understand your viewpoint, and don't have a problem with it, but I have also never had my Aura's clip or bottom out or anything, since I am not overdriving them. I don't have them cranked so that they are going to their max excursion, I just don't like to feel the tactile effects that much!

Scott,
I ordered two sets of the Shakers from PE. I almost ordered the 125 or 250 watt plate amp to power them. I decided to wait because I have a Denon AVR 600 ProLogic receiver that I'm not using. It produces 50 wpc and I'd like to try it first. My questions: I currently power my cylindrical sub with a 250-w plate amp and it is connected to the sub out on my new receiver via a subwoofer cable. How do I connect the old receiver? Can I make a Y connector and use the sub out on my receiver to connect both? Last, what speaker outputs on the old receiver would I use for the Shakers?

From all that I've read, I think I'll still need the 125-watt plate amp.
Thanks,
Jeff

You can split the sub-out signal several times, without a problem, at least I was able to. I split mine twice, so I have three outputs, since I have two subs and the shaker amp. If you want to use the old receiver, it will work, but you will want to use the main front channels, left and right and have your signal split into two to get to both channels of the amp, so you will have your signal split twice. The good thing about this, is that you can program a pronto to change the volume level of your shakers, if you choose to.
If you have a problem splitting your sub signal twice (I doubt you will have a problem) then you should use a plate amp to power the shakers.

"Max, the Aura amps don't come with the shakers that are
currently on sale through Part Express, which is what this thread is about."

Scott - the Aura amps are available seperately at a cost of $6.

E-mail me privately if you need more info (maxcat@wave.co.nz)


Max Christoffersen
www.audioenz.co.nz

Could someone provide a PE SKU for the Aura amp?

Jeff,

I don't think that you are going to need to buy the plate amp. I have successfully been running my shakers from an old proligic receiver as well. And, as Scott points out, I have volume control (as well as on/off control) on the shakers right from my pronto.

Good Luck,
David

OK, I feel like an idiot. I've had a pair Bass Shakers sitting around for months and haven't found any decent instructions on how you connect them. So let's say I pick up an old stereo amp. I connect that in the same place where my subwoofer is plugged in? I understand I need another amp for the bass shakers, but I've never seen an explaination of how to hook that amp up.

Think of the shaker as a speaker. Since basically, that is what it is, without the cone. Hook the wires up as you would a speaker, remembering that they are 4 ohm, where most home speakers are 8 ohms.

Scott,

at one time you had posted a wiring diagram for the way you have your shakers set up. Do you still have that? maybe a link to that thread?

David

Here is the page that explains the wiring:
http://colomar.com/Shavano/spkr_wiring.html

and here is the calculator page:
http://colomar.com/Shavano/impedance_info.html

I just ordered two pair! :) about $75 u.s shipped priority mail to Ontario.....That'll probably be about $1000 Canadian after taxes,exchange etc etc..... ;)

I just ordered 2 pair too. Now I've just got to find an amp! But this deal was too good to pass up.

Hey guys, I downloaded the wiring info that Scott posted. If I'm reading this correctly, I'll need to wire my 4 shakers in series to keep the impedance in check. I'll use the old ProLogic Receiver and the front speaker outputs. I assume I can connect two shakers to the left and two to the right? Scott, David...? I don't know why this seems so confusing to me but for some reason, it is. Geez.

Yeah, these are looking like too good of a deal to pass up. One question, though:

Instead of making some kind of front-to-back spanning brace to mount these things on underneath my couch, could I just mount it on the underneath front side or underneath back side?

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if I mount them more toward the underside front or back of the couch if I'd notice a difference in where I was getting shaken. :)

Yup Jeff, connect positive of #1 shaker to the amp, tie the #1's negative terminal to the positive terminal of #2 shaker and the negative of #2 to the negative on the amp. Do that twice, once for each row of shakers and go for it. Total impedance of each row is 8 ohms.

Jambo, one reason I heard a while ago to attach the shaker to a spanning brace, either factory installed or installed by you, is that it will flex some, enhancing the shaking motion. Who knows if this is a good thing or not, since it could deaden the shaking as well. Think of it like a spring...

Curious, if anyone mounted these to a riser's floor sheathing instead of directly to the furniture.

The Aura's would not have enough force to be able to be effective on a whole platform, unless you have lots of them, increasing the cost to where you may as well install one Buttkicker instead. Less chance of burnout too.