Silent Subwoofers ie: Buttkicker -your thoughts?

It felt to me like the imax theatre at jordan's in massachusetts was using somethign like this. the seats would shake a lot, often when there was no associated bass sound, and the time was slightly off. i was with a bunch of people, none of whom are audiophiles. none of them noticed, but i didn't like it. -dave

Buttkickers and the like just seem too gimmicky. I have two 18" infinite-baffle
subwoofers mounted in my ceiling (you need to have attic space above for these to work properly). I, too, have a concrete floor in my listening room. Those two subs move such incredible amounts of air that I swear they shake the concrete.
When I watch "U-571" (and well below THX levels, which I find absurdly loud), it feels and sounds like you're in the submarine when the depth charges go off. Reproducing good low frequency is all about moving lots of air and when you move lots of air with quickness and impact, the results are quite impressive, if not startling.

Its very easy to use too much with the tactile devices. Used correctly , it can be effective on theatre . Its a balance between xover and output and positioning under the listening chair . You must also be careful how you isolate the rest of the surfaces touching the floor. That said , its fun when implemented correctly.

Cheap Gimicks.

If you want to go to the next level for home theater you need D-BOX motion seat platforms. After selling and designing high end home theaters for 10 years it was my first ah-ha moment.

http://www.d-box.com/2008/product_movies.html