[jpj6st]

Hopefully someone can help me out here. I just bought 2 Aura 50 watt pro bass shakers for my home theater. I then split the sub pre-out (from my Yamaha HTR-5830 receiver) and ran one to my subwoofer and the other to the CD-input of an Onkyo TX-SR505 receiver. I then connected the two bass shakers (in series using about 15 feet of 18g wire) to one of the front speaker terminals of the Onkyo. However, even with the volume maxed on the Onkyo, when I hold the shakers I can tell they are vibrating but it is nothing impressive (I was watching the first scene of Star Wars Episode IV - i.e. the space battle)


1) I don't know what to expect - does this sound right to you? (I would like to make sure before I start disassembling the couch)

2) The Onkyo receiver puts out 75 watts per channel - is the receiver too weak?

3) If #2 is the case, I tried connecting the shakers to the Yamaha which advertises 110 watts per channel but it still doesn't seem to shake very much.


Thanks

 

[jpmst3]

Bass shakers are just like subwoofers and made to operate in the same freq range. Connecting them to the front terminals of a receiver with bass management on is barely sending any material in the operating range of the shaker. You best bet is to connect them to a seperate amp after the pre-amp output of your receiver.

If you want to use your receiver then you will want to set the desired speaker level output to full range and then use some form of inline crossover or thing will always be shaking even during vocal passages.


When executed correctly they willl shake violently but as stated the best setup is a seperate 50-100 watt amp fed from the subwoofer output.

 

[jpmst3]

You will likely find answers to any other questions in the Shaker sticky thread at the top of the page.

 

[jpj6st]

I found a "direct" mode on the Onkyo which does minimal processing of the signal and that seems to have done the trick! - sitting on the floor, the shakers now vibrate visibly during the low frequency scenes. Thanks!


The second amp is fed from the sub pre-out of the first amp. Do you still think I need an inline crossover?


Also, do you think that a receiver with 75 watt output is sufficient to power the 2 bass shakers?


john

 

[jpmst3]

Ahh yes, I missed the second amp part of your description.


That should work fine. They will take anything from 25-50 watts and work well. No you should not need another crossover if you are feeding from the sub output. It sounds like you have it all figured out now.


Just a suggestion to conduct some experiments with the mounting. In other words, be prepared to move them around if you want to balance the back/butt shaking.


I went with two in each chair section. I have four sections so I went with 8 shakers and a Buttkicker amp.

 

[SRR]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jpj6st /forum/post/15518893


I found a "direct" mode on the Onkyo which does minimal processing of the signal and that seems to have done the trick! - sitting on the floor, the shakers now vibrate visibly during the low frequency scenes. Thanks!


The second amp is fed from the sub pre-out of the first amp. Do you still think I need an inline crossover?


Also, do you think that a receiver with 75 watt output is sufficient to power the 2 bass shakers?


john

Onkyo's have a listening mode called all channel mono or something like that, use that, and then hook one bass shaker per front channel. What that does is takes a stereo OR MONO in your case and splits it to every channel for amplification. You could run one or two bass shakers off each amp channel. Just be sure to tell the Onkyo you have no sub and all speakers are large and you will be fine. It is exactly what I do for my 8 shakers, but I do it with a measly Onkyo 304.

 

[jpj6st]



Quote:
Originally Posted by SRR /forum/post/15519650


Onkyo's have a listening mode called all channel mono or something like that, use that, and then hook one bass shaker per front channel. What that does is takes a stereo OR MONO in your case and splits it to every channel for amplification. You could run one or two bass shakers off each amp channel. Just be sure to tell the Onkyo you have no sub and all speakers are large and you will be fine. It is exactly what I do for my 8 shakers, but I do it with a measly Onkyo 304.

Thanks for the info - I'll give that listening mode a try. However, I didn't think you could put just one shaker on each channel because they are only 4 Ohms.

 

[SRR]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jpj6st /forum/post/15523030


Thanks for the info - I'll give that listening mode a try. However, I didn't think you could put just one shaker on each channel because they are only 4 Ohms.

Yes you can, it is what I do.