It seems like I run across a mention of these things about once a month. Just to clarify, I am talking about the things that produce sub-sonic bass frequencies using physical motion rather than sound waves. Does anyone have any experience with them in a car audio application?

I know people who have never used them before love to make fun of the idea, but as an engineer, they do seem interesting. I know home theater people absolutely love them, but supposedly they aren't the best for music. Has anyone around here tried them? What are your opinions of them?

(Please, only people who have actually used them respond to this post.)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93vtec ATL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It seems like I run across a mention of these things about once a month. Just to clarify, I am talking about the things that produce sub-sonic bass frequencies using physical motion rather than sound waves. Does anyone have any experience with them in a car audio application?</TD></TR></TABLE>

what you just said doesnt make sense. They produce the side effects of sub bass (not sub-sonic) which is just vibration in materials that have a resonant frequency high enough. why you would want that in your car i'm not sure but whatever floats your boat. No matter how you produce the sub bass, you are going to produce sound waves. that is simply what sound is.

As far as them being big in the home theater scene, i'm sure some people use them to enhance the vibrations you would get when there is a big explosion or something similar. When you build a proper theater you want it to be as solid as possible which means minimum vibration. It is then the job of the sub to have the impact required.

One place you actually see these a lot is in the video game industry in the arcade machines. a lot of companies will put these under the seats to give a little vibration when a certain event happens.

 

Right... my description was pretty poor. The bottom line is that these units provide the vibration/pyhysical aspect of bass without producing the sound. You are supposed to mount each unit directly to the bottom of your seats, and supposedly, the vibration is fairly isolated (i.e. wouldn't rattle the rest of the car). The idea is to provide the illusion of having much more powerful bass than is actually present. Many people (probably not pure audiophiles) purchase subs in order to "feel" the bass. My post was simply out of curiosity. I have read many reviews in home theater sites where people ranted and raved about these things, but I have only read about a few car installs. (I understand that there may be very good reason for this.. thus, I am asking if anyone here has tried it.)

The advantage to these could potentially be saving a lot of $$ (they are much much cheaper than a high-quality sub/amp set-up). Also, powerful subs have a tendency to shake the entire car a bit much for my taste. Sound deadening is not too difficult, but when fasteners start to be shaken loose, thats when I have problems. If the vibration is as isolated as I have read, this seems like an interesting poor-man's way to enhance a car stereo.

I am not having delusions that this would be any sort of a replacement for a real SQ or SPL system, but I could see potential as a supplement to a smallish sub set-up. Plus, I am bored at work.. so I often let my mind wander.

Anyway, I am still interested if anyone has seen these things in action. Let me know what you think.

 

if you want vibration without the actual sound of bass why not just drive around with a vibrator in your pocket.

my view on this is still that music is sound, create a system that will produce the sound and not solely the by products of it. i know if i was in a car and the seat started vibrating when there was no bass id be annoyed more than impressed.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The advantage to these could potentially be saving a lot of $$ (they are much much cheaper than a high-quality sub/amp set-up)</TD></TR></TABLE>

but are you saving any money if you're not actually producing the sound? to me this seems like putting picture frames next to your tv to give the illusion of having a bigger TV or those little speakers you put in your engine bay that make the BOV sounds.

if you dont like the feeling or cost of the big amp/sub setup, why not go with a more mild setup like a single 8 or 10.



Modified by EBP_SI at 9:51 PM 7/2/2004

 

I have installed a few of these ,[Alpine] they work very well in cars that have limited space for subs, or for someone that does not want to give up any space .

Most setups were in pickups, using one 8" sub and two "bass shakers" one under driver one under passanger, mounted on two 1"x 12"x 15" MDF panels.

We use a 4x75 watt amp ch.1 and 2 mono [150 watts] for the 8" and the other two ch. running the "bass shakers 75 watts each.

All the people that had this done ,said they were happy with the sound, except the guy with the crewcab who came back and had two more installed.

As for being cheeper , I don't think so , and there is no vibration when there is no bass, they are wired off an amp, and xovered the same as the sub is.

Installing "bass shakers" without a sub, dosn't work very well ,although I have done that also, [your customer is always right] he left the shop a happy guy.

hope this helps 94

 

I have never personally experienced them, but I talked to a few people back in high school who had the Aura Bass Shakers. They said that they made the system sound much more powerful from inside the car.

Here is a link to their website: http://www.aurasound.com/

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rochesterricer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> They said that they made the system sound much more powerful from inside the car.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

were they high?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bassisliffe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">were they high? </TD></TR></TABLE>

No, but they were the kind of people that thought Rockford Punch 10's could shatter hatch glass(not unlike most highschool kids).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rochesterricer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

No, but they were the kind of people that thought Rockford Punch 10's could shatter hatch glass(not unlike most highschool kids). </TD></TR></TABLE>

Brrraaahahahahahahahha 94