Home > Consumer Reviews > ButtKicker BK-LFEKit Low Frequency Effect Kit with Amplifier for Home Theater

Regardless of your nice high-end home theater speaker system this piece of equipment will give you an experience you won't get otherwise. The transducer isn't just a generic vibrator. This unit modulates the vibration to perfectly match what you hear. It isn't just a 'shaker' for your couch. Vibrations are transmitted with great accuracy as far as frequencies go. Watching Band of Brothers, Mission Impossible 3, Saving Private Ryan, and many more with this unit has been something out of this world. It makes you feel like you are there in the action. Explosions in movies, a tank just passing by, a door being slammed shut, you name it, and this thing makes you feel like you are there when it was being filmed. I highly recommend it! I'm a happy camper. The immersion factor goes up quite a few notches.

This is a great product. Build quality is excellent,Performs fantastic,Simple and easy to setup,Very realistic low frequecy effects. This is a great finishing touch for any home theater. If nothing else the fun factor with this kit is off the charts.

As a home theater enthusiast, I'm regularly tweaking my surround sound system for the best experience. Bass management can be a chore, getting the overlap between the subwoofer and the other speaker as natural as possible, yet still get the thumping bass experience. I decided to try the buttkicker, and it was the best "tweak" I've done to my system in a long time. Other have talked about the installation and benefits. So, I'll just mention that one reason I love the buttkicer is that I can still get that big bass movie experience without the high sound pressure levels you need from just a sub. So, you can watch a movie at a very reasonable volume but feel likes it much louder. If you like concert DVD's - the buttkicker really adds a life-like feel to the bass drum. A very cool, great product.

This thing is so cool, its great for getting more umph out of movies without cranking the volume up. think about still being able to 'feel' the bass while watching a movie at 1 am but having the volume low enough to not wake the kids up!

they used the word kicker for a reason they can kick you square in the back, they are accurate at reproducing the feel of the low noise also. the 'punch of a bullet' or the 'thwap thwap' in slow motion of a helicopter blade.

I wish at this time that there was a way to eliminate the bass from the music of the movie and isolate only the bass of the effects this would be a much more optimal set up. It will give you a back massage if you listen to rap music with this unit turned on.

I bought this kit and one other transducer and mounted them inside our sectional sofa. Tuning the unit to where it is powerful enough to kick when it needs to but soft enough to not bug you the whole movie is a little tricky. All in all this unit does not replace a good high quality sub. To b e completly honest we leave them turned off a lot of the times but are a fun novelty to have and really surprise guests that have never been in your theater. So if you have everything else for your home theater this should be the next toy you get!

Value - Was going to put this last, but I think I need to put it first. With A/V home theatre, we're constantly battling with diminishing returns for every $ spent. That extra $100-400 will get you another HDMI connection or 20 watts of power or THX certification. So much money is spent on increasing specs that you can't really differentiate (ehem Monster Cables). This Buttkicker is one of those rare times that $400 will get you a huge (noticeable) impact on your home theatre enjoyment. So forego the extra money spent to grab a higher contrast ratio and get this product today.

Build Quality - The first thing I noticed upon receiving my LFE Kit was the build quality. Both the amp and buttkicker feel very solid and well constructed. I was impressed.

Setup - 30 minutes and I was done. I attached the buttkicker to its base plate. Slide it under the back left corner of my couch (small ikea loveseat) and placed the rubber isolators underneath the other 3 legs (no screws). The amp set up was a piece of cake. You will need a long RCA cable (sold separately) if you want to have your amp next to your seating location.

Performance (Movies) - The buttkicker synched perfectly with my subwoofer. The great benefit is being able to keep my sub volume lower and having my buttkicker do more work. Its great because I don't disturbe the guy in the floor below me. It really increases the feelings of suspense during a drama as the music score often has low frequency sounds. Its really awesome during action sequences as ever bullet, slam, and rumble is felt right in line with the movie.

Performance (Gaming) - Even more incredible. I tested with Call of Duty WAW. It adds another dimension to first person shooters. I could feel the rumble of a tank nearby that was neither in my field of vision, nor on my UAV radar. The key is that it was a faint rumble that may not be heard with a stand alone subwoofer unless it was cranked way up and that's the beauty of it.