You know what you need for the New Year? A good swift kick in the butt. God knows that you deserve it. You know you deserve it. So why not treat yourself? And the ButtKicker is just the right tool for the job.
Imagine this, if you will; It’s Saturday night. You rigged up your surround sound for optimal performance. There is a speaker in every corner and cranny of your den. You rented the notebook so that your girlfriend will see what a sensitive guy of the modern world you are. And she’ll hear that whiny little punk who stars in it whine throughout the whole movie from every direction. Hey, didn’t he play a murdering sociopath once? Ah well, another day another dollar for an actor. But right now, it’s sensitivity time. And you have a secret weapon hiding under the couch. No, not the doll. That’s for backup in case you screw this whole thing up.
Sitting under the back of the couch, fed by wireless bass from the from the core of your audio system is the Guitammer ButtKicker. What better way to let a girl know you love her than by giving her the gift of a vibrating couch? I hope you bought one for the bed too. But before we get into the long-term benefits of this awesome peice of entertainment, let’s check out the specs on it.
The ButtKicker low frequency transducer accurately reproduces bass and special effects from the subwoofer and .1 LFE sound tracks.
The ButtKicker transducer “shakes” your couch or home theater seating precisely in sync with your movie, music or game.
Now you can enjoy powerful bass, realistic special effects and concert quality music without disturbing the neighbors or waking the kids.
The kit includes all the cables and wires needed to connect the ButtKicker transducer to your home theater and gaming systems.
ButtKicker LFE Specifications:
| Dimensions | 5.375″ H x 5.375″ W |
| Frequency Response | 5 – 200 Hz |
| Weight | 11 lbs / 5 kgs |
| Nominal Impedance | 4 ohms |
| Power Handling | 400 watts min / 1500 watts max. |
ButtKicker Power Amplifier Specifications:
| Dimensions | 12″ W x 12″ L x 4″ H |
| Weight | 25 lbs / 11.4 kgs |
| Power Handling | 1000 watts @ 4 ohms 1900 watts @ 2 ohms |
| Voltage | Either 120v or 240v Versions. NOT SWITCHABLE |
So let’s install this damned thing. I’ll begin at the Fed-Ex drop off. This thing is heavy as crap. All the guts combined with the packaging had to weigh over twenty pounds. That may not be much for everyday lifting, but the most we writers lift is a cup of cappucino. But don’t be discouraged at the weight. Installation is fairly simple. Anyone with at least a mediocre knowledge of electronics installation can have this thing up and running in under an hour. Quicker, if you are on Meth.
So I took the BK out of the UPS box. Inside that was another box. And inside that box was about five more boxes. Not only do the guys at Guitammer aim to protect the merchandise, they aim to make sure that you know how to put it all together. But for a wireless monster that sends rumbling bass through your furniture the setup was fairly easy. But of course, I had to make things a little harder on myself than I really needed.
The first thing that had to be done is to install the included rubber stoppers on the bottoms of your couch legs. All except the one that would be resting on the ButtKicker, that is. But have you ever held up a couch while trying to screw a chunk of rubber one-handed onto the leg? I would suggest either having a friend help you flip the couch over or just invest in a two ton floor jack. Either way is much better than trying to do it the way I did it. I told you I made it hard on myself, didn’t I?
Okay, next I had to use the included four bolts, nuts, and washers to attach the ButtKicker Advance to the CMAK mounting plate. Not a difficult job, and it included the only needed tool for the job. When done with that, the flat portion of the plate slides under the leg of your couch. Preferably in the center, but an outside leg will do if you don’t have a center leg. Now it’s time to connect the giant speaker wire to the BK Advance. All you have to do is push the metal top down, slide the wire in, and let go. Easy as can be. It’s even color-coded to keep you from screwing everything up. The other end of the wires runs over to the ButtKicker Power Amp. This little beauty is where you plug in the wireless receiver to import and amplify the bass for your bum.
Now the receiver is plugged into the Amp. The BK Advance is connected to the plate, and the cables are connected to both. So I used the included power cord to get everything juiced up. Now it was time to go hook up the Wireless Transmitter to my DVD Player. This is what sends bass to the ButtKicker for your booty’s enjoyment. Believe it or not, this is where I had the most trouble. No matter how I plugged it in, I couldn’t get it to work properly. Finally I figured out that I had the cable connected to the Transmitter plugged into the “Out” port, rather than the “In”. This is where I realized exactly how dumb I can be.
I completely forgot that I had left the ButtKicker Amp turned on the entire time, and that the bass was turned all the way up. I didn’t realize exactly how much power bass can have. I’ve also never seen a couch dance or a dog run that fast. Unfortunately for my dog, she was sleeping right beside the couch at the time. It took her a while to stop shaking uncontrollably. So until I could get to the remote I had a couch jumping all over my living room making the most horrid racket and a dog whimpering and barking from the kitchen.
Okay, the horror is over and everything is hooked up properly. Time to sit my butt down and watch a movie. I also got my hands on an Xbox 360 to play with and borrowed some 90s rap CDs from my girlfriend. I figure if you’re going to test the world’s biggest vibrator, might as well do it from all angles. For my movie choice I selected Die Hard 4.0 to test with. If Bruce Willis blowing up everything doesn’t get the couch shaking then nothing will.
The included remote control has three preset options for MUSIC, MOVIE, and GAME. With each preset option the ButtKicker automatically adjusts its volume and bass settings to be optimal with the chosen media. I put the thing into MOVIE mode and sat back for a “non-stop action-packed thrill ride” -OCModshop Weekly.
And I was not disappointed with the results. It picked up the suspensful “lows” beautifully, making the experience much more like being in a cinema than sitting in a living room. Each blast from a gun sent a boom through the body, and the explosions sent shockwaves that were sometimes nearly enough to rattle the teeth right out of my head. I definately give it two thumbs up for the movie going experience.
Next I invited my woman into the World of ButtKicker to test out her music collection. She has an unnerving amount of music from the 80s and 90s with an arsenal of bass-filled rap to jar your skull. After about half an hour of Will Smith, N.W.A. and Sir Mix-A-Lot, I was able to confirm the MUSIC experience was more than enough to make you feel the noise. Hopefully Quiet Riot doesn’t sue me for that one. When I went across the room to set everything up for the gaming test, I could feel the bass through the floorboards. So if you have a hardwood floor like I do I suggest getting an area rug or something of that nature to help muffle the noise. Wood is a major carrier of sound.
Lastly, it’s finally time to try out the GAMING portion of the ButtKicker’s skills. I whipped out the old Xbox and got down and dirty with some Gears of War 2 and a little Left 4 Dead. Personally this was the best experience of all. Each time a bomb went off, or I blew away a zombie with my trusty shotgun, or a machine gun-toting beast from the bowels of the underworld shot me, I felt it. Deep in my soul…. No, that’s a little too melodramatic. But it felt great. Gaming, and getting to feel more than a vibrating controller in your hands, is an awesome experience. I also found that by adjusting the volume just a bit above the preset, you can feel the larger monsters’ footsteps in GOW2.
To conclude, I found the ButtKicker a damned sweet add-on to any home entertainmet setup. No matter if you are gaming your brains out or watch movies like a fiend, this is probably going to enhance your experience ten-fold. The rubber stoppers were a pain in the ass to install, but essential for optimum effect. So I can’t complain about a little work. Assembly and installation was fairly simple, and required on the single included tool. The bass effect is enough to set off most games and action movies. Horror movie buffs would also benefit, with the dramatic musical tones carrying through to deliver a shiver down the spine. However, playing Mario or watching The Notebook will probably get you just short of nowhere.
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