Bass shaker attachment

G-Slev · Jun 24, 2021

I'm thinking off adding a couple of puck type bass shakers to my 8040 rig to see if they add anything - one at the seat and one under the pedals. Both the seat (from an old mx5) and the pedals (v3s) attach directly to the aluminium profile.

I'm looking for some tops on the best way to attach the pucks to the aluminium profile. Can I attach them direct to the profile, or do I need something in between the puck and the profile?

Ta in advance

stigs2cousin · Jun 24, 2021

From what I read in this forum attaching the shakers directly to the profile should be disappointing in feel and aggravating to the environment

I myself have the shakers attached directly to the seat pan (which is in itself isolated frome the seat frame) and hidden in the stuffing of the backrest. It´s a street car Recaro where the plastic seatpan is on hinges in the front and on springs in the back.
The shaker in the back is in a piece of styrofoam that covers the lumbar support.

The whole DIY profile rig is isolated by a wooden beam and five layers of 6mm rubber mat to the floor.
The shakers can be heard in my appartment, but the complaints from my neighbour have stopped since I put the rubbermat under it.

To get the best of it you should try to attach the shakers directly to the seatpads you want shaken.
a quick picture search revealed that the Miata seats have a steel frame and the cushions are held with springs wire??

So maybe shove a wooden board unter the springs and bolt the shaker to the board?

My footrest is also shaken, but it´s isolated from the profile by rubber isolators.
First try was only three layers of rubber mat which didn´t go well, low vibrations and angry neighbour

MFG Carsten

G-Slev · Jun 26, 2021

Hey @stigs2cousin, thanks for the tips - very useful. Thankfully, I live in a detached house and aside from annoying my wife, I don't have to worry too much about noise. Are bass shakers massively noisy in use? I am thinking of getting these or these these - both are 50w speakers. I am going to run just one on the pedals and one on the seat - if I decide to go down the four corner route later, I can buy two more. I already have a spare sound card (the simrig runs off a little usb sound card - my PC has a sound blaster audigy FX which I only use when at my desk - my 4th monitor runs off the simrig pc for me to do photo editing etc).

Am I right in thinking from what you have said that I need to attach the bass shaker to some sort of wooden board, and then attach that wooden board directly to the seat and to the pedal deck?

My miata seats have this bottom panel:

So I was thinking that perhaps I could attach the speakers to a small board, drill some holes in the board and then bolt that board through the two small holes at the front of the seat and then cable tie the board to the metal parts for added stability. Would that work?

As for the pedal plate, this is my current attachment method:

Excuse the dire cable management.

My thinking for this is to get a piece of wooden board (plywood?) cut to the same footprint size as the V3s, and then drill holes in it to bolt the V3s to the aluminum profile through the wood. I would have to get some rubber isolators to go under the board from what you have said, and probably some longer bolts as well.

Do you think those solutions would work?

Also, what thickness of board would you suggest for mounting to the bass shakers?

Thanks again for all your help. I love these little projects - there is nothing more satisfying than building something bespoke for a self built simrig.

stigs2cousin · Jun 26, 2021

Hy Gary,

as your seat has sheet metal seat pan I´t bolt the shaker directly to that.
Maybe a layer of rubber mat between the seat and the seat rails, any other ( better) form of isolation would be a massive undertaking as the seat has to counteract your braking forces.
You´ll have to see if thats enough for you intended purposes.

As for the pedals, they are completely different than my Sprints, so i´m afraid I can´t be of help there.
My pedals are separately mounted with a wooden heelplate suspended on rubber isolaters.
So the heelplate can move quite a lot which helps the feedback the pedals are quite stiff for good braking.
and to build a heelplate and vibrate only that would not be very helpfull as the ( at least my) heel lifts off when braking, so no contact to the shaker. ( brake force around 50kg´s.)

How good the shakers are I have no idea, the ones i use are my only experience.

About vibration/noise, you´d better not undersetimate the W:A:F ( wifey acceptance factor

)

These things even when they are isolated and can´t be felt ( thats why my rig is on wooden beams with several layers rubber mat under it) they can clearly be heard.
I can hear them myself over 5.1 game audio, so a person in the same room could be aggravated

MFG Carsten