Buttkicker LFE Kit
Christo van Gemert
The problem with subwoofers is that they’re loud. Okay, that’s not the problem – but turn up the volume on your home theatre subwoofer, start watching the mansion fight scene in Matrix Reloaded and try act surprised when your neighbours show up asking what all the commotion is about. It’s even worse if you live in a townhouse or flat.

Low-frequency sound travels further, which makes it a problem at higher volumes. With this problem in mind, the engineers at Guittamer company developed the Buttkicker. It’s a tactile sound transducer, which means that it takes an electrical signal and converts it into tactile sound. Sound you can feel. Clever, right? Very much. Its makers refer to the Buttkicker as a “silent subwoofer”, which means you can turn down the volume on your actual subwoofer and still feel the thumbs, kicks, explosions and bangs, from your movies and games. It’s amazing how much of the on-screen action is tied to low-frequency sounds. In racing games, for instance, the Buttkicker will shake the couch on the obvious bits like hitting other cars or going off-track. But there’s also a slight vibration when a V8 roars past, and less subtle feedback when your tyres touch the rumble strips. Similarly, fighting games have you feeling those kidney punches and body blows.

The Buttkicker sounds gimmicky at first, but it’s really a great innovation that adds more immersion to your entertainment. It’s also easy to install: a simple mounting plate will make it work on any couch, but a permanent installation (using bolts, drills and a spare couch) will yield even better results.
Just don’t use it with music. As novel as it is to feel the bass beats in movies and games, the constant, rhythmic thumping in dance ditties and rock hits will leave you nauseated.