SUMMARYThe BST-1 is not a necessity for a home theater, but boy does it add something to the overall theater experience. I don't think I will ever go back to watching movies w/o them turned on. I think Bass Shaker although techincally is what it does, to me seems to have a negative tone to it. Properly setup think of it as a subwoofer extension. They seem to be built well, and have lots of heat sinks to get rid of the heat when driven hard.CONFIGURATION:As great as these are, they need to be installed and setup properly. The BST-1 needs to be anchored very securely to a flat wood surface for maximum performance and to eliminate rattles. Much like the configuration of all of the speakers in your home theater it is important that everything is balanced properly. If you look at these as an extension to your subwoofer like your subwoofer is an extension using bass management to your center / L/R/Surround / heights etc. The BST-1 is rated at 10-80 hz, but will make sounds at higher frequency's so it is important to have the signal crossed over (the install guide says 80hz), I have mine at 80hz w/ the sub crossover and it seems fine. So when very low frequency's occur in movie sound tracks your sub is doing what it can, but these add that extra low freq (even below human hearing). Its the really low frequencies is where these really shine to extend the overall low frequency impact that your home theater has. I also find that I can run the subwoofer (and the overall theater) at a lower output and with the BST-1. The experience is more enjoyable and better at the lower sound levels plus the BST-1. There are other bass shakers out there but they are more expensive and I would have a hard time to imagine that they would be that much better.INSTALL DETAILS (For those who want to know) I am using (3) in a sectional with a wood frame (see pics). The sectional sits on a concreate floor. These are 4 ohms each I have (2) wired in series for total 8 ohm load to one of the amp channels and (1) wired to the other amp channel. I then paned the amp output to the speakers in series to balance out the power and level. I am using a 100w per channel amp dedicated to these (an old 2 channel receiver) so I can shut them off (and adjust the volume) / balance if needed. The input to the amp is the sub output of the home theater receiver (that handles my other speakers) sub crossed over at 120 hz. spilt to the L/R channels of the dedicated amp.For video games, we up the level, for movies we turn it down so it just hits when it adds to the movie and does not distract normally. I found that I needed to tighten some of the parts on the sectional to avoid vibrations at the very lowest frequencies.Update 2-23-22 - Still going strong after about 2 years of use at least 1 / week. Updated crossover for the Sub and BST-1 from 120hz down to 80 hz. My Front/Surround/Ceiling all crossed over at 80 hz now. I think they (The BST-1) work better crossed over at 80 vs 120hz. Still a great investment in my opinion.GOOD DEMO's for the BST-1Jumanji - Welcome the jungle - (any scene where the games drums are playing)Solo - A Star Wars Story - The scene with the explosion of the train of coaxiumAvatarAny movie with low bass
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]