Installation
The installation is quite easy and intuitive but it is probably best to follow the instructions. The basic layout is that you install a Y-cable from your AUDIO OUT and just keep your regular speaker layout connected to one side of it. The other side goes into the back of the amplifier which interprets the low frequency signal and sends electricity to the motor mounted on the chair which spins at various speeds according to what signal is being received.
All the cabling is included and some extra cables are included for those with more exotic audio setups (i.e.: 5.1 surround sound). My setup is pretty standard: 2 Sony satellite speakers and a single sub-woofer. All told it took about 10 minutes to get everything unpacked, mounted and plugged in. Once clamped to the central pillar of your chair an included bungee cord can be mounted to provide a bit of a “damper” to the cord in case you twirl around in your chair. Also included are some Velcro straps to tightly bind the cable to the base of the chair. Where the cable from the motor ends there is a quick disconnect that allows you to unhook the cable from the rest of the cable leading to the amplifier so that you can spin around in your chair or roll across the room without being tethered to the amplifier (important for those office chair racing events!). After using the ButtKicker for the past couple of weeks I can honestly say that I’ve never had any problems with my wheels rolling over the cord or it getting wrapped more than once around the chair.
Unfortunately, the floor behind my computer just continues to build into a rat’s nest of cables: 2 external hard drives, 1 external DVD burner, TrackIR, HOTAS, CH Pedals, wireless mouse, printer, LAN cable, speaker wires, MOMO wires, and all of the power cords that run all of those accessories. I wouldn’t venture back there unless I had a sharp knife to cut myself free of the mess.
