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Close encounters of the tactile kind
Feel the force from the Clark Tactile Transducer
By Max Christoffersen
September 2000
I'm a sucker for a good ad. And there it was - page 29 Stereophile Guide to Home Theatre, September 1998. Truth was it didn't tell me all I needed to know but it did create desire (see Advertising 101). I was hooked from then on.
It looked for all the world like a blue flying saucer. It was claimed it would make me “feel the Speeders In Star Wars” and would allow me to “immerse myself into a scene by adding the sense of touch, a heightened realism to my system.”
This
thing was a Clark Tactile Transducer. In short it vibrates like hell.
And if it's screwed into your seat, floorboards or decking everything
else vibrates with it. It's unlike any other speaker you're likely to
hear or feel or... well you know what I mean.
Tactile transducers are now all the rage with amusement parks, flight simulators and of course home theatres. Anywhere a bottom end 'enhancement' is needed to provide that extra virtual bottom end kick.
The specs really tell the story: for each watt of input the transducer will output 2.8 pounds of pressure. So at its input limit of 135 watts (safety switch protected) the small unit is putting almost 400 pounds of pressure on your floorboards. FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS! Think about that for a moment.
And the one I got is only the middle one in the company line-up - the big one goes at 3.5 pounds of pressure (and is fully submersible) and, well - bottom line is that is a LOT of bottom line! And to achieve that kind of force with a subwoofer is going to require a lot of volume, perhaps too much to be comfortable.
The hardest part of the whole installation deal was climbing around under the house, drilling and screwing the thing into a joist while avoiding cob-webs, summer crickets and bugs and well other 'things' that live under houses.
Speaker leads had already been fed through a hole in the floor and appropriate banana plug receptors soldered on. At the other end, a spare amp, a bridged Carver M1.0t and a spare NAD pre-amp make up the tactile system which is fed a dedicated low end signal from my Yamaha DSPA-1 sub pre- output. (A minimum of 100 watts of power is recommended although in use the Clark TT seems remarkably efficient).
If I was expecting nirvana I got... well nothing really, not a squeak. Turn everything off, check the leads. Ahhhh, could be the thing is out of phase? A quick switch of leads and THUD!!! Yep she's going all right - bloody hell!!
Put on a music DVD to test the signal is okay and - well, it's a mighty curious effect having the floor play a tune. Not only was it moving in time to the bottom end but it was actually vibrating like a soundbox. The effect of music under your feet was unnerving but kind of intriguing too. I needed more.
The heavyweight DVDs were brought out to test the impact including scenes from The Fifth Element, Starship Troopers, T2, Lost In Space and Contact. In a word damn scary.
The first thing you notice is the TT effects are at your feet but the scene is up front and at times around you. When the scenes call for it (Starship Troopers - 'A Big Mistake') the TT will move you so hard you wonder what has hit you - and the reality of the dose is totally in your face (or is that in your butt) and it just keeps coming at you.
But the great thing with this scene from Starship Troopers is that it felt natural - it felt like the scene was more alive and more involving. The effect felt as if it belonged - it wasn't added, it wasn't fake, it was doing what it should. It felt as if it were upfront attached to the action, not a detached effect that was there for the novelty of it.
No debate - the TT moves you and anything else in its way. I mean this thing is downright scary, if only because you're waiting for the amp to blow, the floor to give it up or the partner to come in and really start kicking butt.
Similarly the climatic scene of Contact has massive bottom end effects. While the subs were giving what they should the TT was working over-time with the couch suddenly transformed into the pod that Jodie Foster was riding. This was a virtual ride with the transducer really kicking in the effect which was even better when it stopped, because when the scene stopped so did the thud - right on a dime. No decay, nothing - just stop.
Big thuds are one thingbut does it do subtle as well? You betcha! Some scenes need that sense of 'weight' even though the scene is not overly dramatic with the best example being a car door slamming. You know it should have a solid feel to it and wham! it sure did. Great stuff and shows the TT can handle scenes requiring just a subtle lift, not just an overwhelming thud.
It's equally true on music - despite having only the sub-100hz signal to play with, music too came alive with new detail. On a close miked nylon string guitar (Pat Metheney on The Falcon and the Snowman soundtrack) the pluck of the string is just right - a nice 'twang' as the string is hit and the body of the note and decay is spot on.
The only thing that is needed is a little balance to the effect so as to not totally disturb the music being 'up front' where it belongs, instead of under your feet, where it doesn't.
After initial tests and the fun stopped, the conclusion is the TT works best in conjunction with a subwoofer. In my system the Velodyne does a good job playing the upper bass - but when I want that solid and substantial leading edge a dramatic whack!! the TT does the job.
But there is a real sweet spot. Picture a pebble in a pool - at the centre of the tactile transducer's area the effect is solid and substantial, a few feet left or right and the effect rolls off as you get further away. For those who want to sit at the epicentre they are assured a solid ride - but for those who don't like the effect, either roll it off or sit away from the impact zone.
Make no mistake this is a guilty pleasure - the audio purists will cry 'foul' and many will wonder if this is more anti-fi than hi-fi. But for me the Clark Synthesis Tactile Sound Transducer is the most significant step forward for home theatre since active subs, projectors and dipoles.
Fact is I can't live without it now I got one. I really think transducers will become the HT norm as more people want that extra kick from their systems.
Be the first on your block to say “here take a seat... no no no take my seat (heh-heh)” and sit back and watch the fun begin.
For more information check: www.clarksynthesis.com
[Editor's note: there is no New Zealand distributor for Clark Synthesis]
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