There are a few choices when it comes to tactile transducers. Regardless of which one you chose, you will need a seperate amp to power it.
The
Aura Pro Bass Shaker is great for adding some rumble and shake to your seat if that is what you're looking for. They're inexpensive and don't require massive amounts of power to drive them, so they're a good place to start as a trial if you just want to hook something up without spending a ton of money to try it out.
In my experience with them, they're a fun novelty. I really would not want to use them for music what-so-ever, but since you'd be powering them with a seperate amp, it's as easy as turning off that amp for music and then turning it on for movies or any other time you'd like to use the Bass Shaker. The effect I felt - it was a lot like one of those over-the-top car audio systems where the subwoofer is blasting away and kicking you in the back of the seat. Like I said - a fun novelty - but nothing really in the way of subtlety.
The ButtKicker has already been mentioned and it's certainly a popular and interesting product. It's more expensive and it uses massive amounts of power. I honestly would recommend that you go ahead and use their own "ButtKicker Amplifier" since it provides ample power and some basic filter controls at a reasonable price.
The ButtKicker is literally a piston controlled by an electromagnet. It can move with surprising subtlety - although again, I wouldn't really want to use it for music. Personally, I found The ButtKicker more engaging than the Aura Pro Bass Shakers. To me, it better replicated the feeling of a larger, powerful but controlled subwoofer. What I mean is, the Bass Shaker gave me the impression of an over-the-top car audio system. The ButtKicker gave me the impression of an amusement theater where the seats are rigged to be more tactile than a normal movie theater.
EarthQuake, Totem and a few others have various tactile transducers that I have not tried.
But the one I like to recommend is the
Clark Synthesis Tactile Sound Transducer
The Clark units are basically just a speaker voice coil, so they shake more or less exactly the same way as a normal speaker. They respond with greater subtlety than any of the other bass shakers that I've tried. They also don't require massive amounts of power.
I like the Clark units the best so far because the experience I get when using them is closer to feeling like it's just a normal speaker rather than some other sort of "add-on" device shaking my seat. I could conceive of using the Clark units with
some music. Obviously, not all types of music lend themselves to seat-shaking bass, but with some genres, the Clark units would actually enhance enjoyment IMO.
You have to be somewhat careful when using the Clark units - they will respond to the full frequency range, so it's entirely possible to have higher frequencies eminating from your couch is you hook up the signal that way. For example, some people intentionally hook up the center channel signal and then voices and dialogue will literally be "felt" and also heard coming from the couch! This actually really helps people who are nearly deaf as they can hear the dialogue via bone conduction rather than only through their ears. It's rather like placing your head directly on the wooden body of a piano. Everything sounds odd, but you certainly sense the sound very loudly!
In a typical setup though, you would want to limit the signal to only low bass so that you do not "hear" your couch, but rather, only "feel" it. In truth though, you are hearing the bass via bone conduction and that's why I like the Clark the best.
Good luck!
