SA2 - Discontinued

My first foray into tactile transducers was not a small one, I purchased two very robust 1000w transducers which I quickly realised I only needed one of.
With a claimed frequency extension down to 5Hz and capability to rock 5-6 seats comfortably, one would suffice.

Fast forward to 2024 I met the owner of Shed Audio on a social media forum, where we talked back and forward about his new Transducers which had impressive specs and claims. I decided to give the SA2 a try, mainly to see how it stacked up with my existing unit.
Once I had the SA2 installed with the provided mounting kit, I needed to gain match both units in the best way possible.
The only way I could figure this out was to download a vibration sensor app, place this in my listening position and adjust the gain to match. Sat in my seat I felt they were very closely matched.

My initial findings after a few quick demo runs using the race scene from Ready Player One revealed very little difference in the response between my existing unit and the SA2. This is a real positive for the SA2 purely due to the size difference between the two units. The existing transducer I have is the size of a car alternator and looks like one too, it also weighs considerably more at 4kg and is more awkward to mount even with the special mounting bracket.
As far as mounting kit for the SA2, I would have liked a longer mounting screw than the one provided as I was affixing this to a piece of 18mm MDF.

The SA2 has good sensitivity, requiring less gain on my Behringer A800 amp to drive it equally as much as my other unit. Another plus for the SA2.

I tested the SA2 out with both music and movies, testing it with music solidified the thought that I didn't like using a transducer when listening to my favourite tracks.

With movies however, it's a fantastic addition to a home cinema setup and I can imagine in a gaming rig it would be just as good.
It responds instantly and with great depth and finesse adding another dimension to movies. Now I've owned a transducer I will never go back to not having one in my system.

Paired up with a Class D Behringer A800 and fine tuned using a MiniDSP 2X4HD, which allows me to adjust gain, delay and frequency response makes the perfect setup to properly integrate the SA2 into my system.

You can easily push the SA2 past a comfortable point, where it starts to distract you from the movie watching experience.
With tactile transducers I find the less is more approach works best for me.
I have 3 12" BK electronics Monolith+ subs in my room so I'm not lacking bass, however a well integrated well made transducer like the SA2 fills in the low end and gives you that real kick in the backside where the subwoofers roll off. It really does add a 4th dimension to the experience.
If you set a transducer up correctly it should blend in with the bass from the subwoofers to give you a seamless, smooth response albeit with that visceral kick to the backside at times when it's needed, like the kick from the engine starting in Ready Player One, the thump of a round exiting the barrel of the tank in a war film or an anti submarine mine exploding in the ocean.

The SA2 feels solid and well built and does an excellent job in adding that extra dimension to movies/games. I was pleasantly surprised how well it stacked up against my existing unit and in all honesty at half the price I paid for that, I'd have probably bought the SA2 in hindsight and would have been just as happy.

Some simple application instructions would have been nice to have, something that included a diagram of the unit itself, with things like which is the + & - wires.
Tips for mounting to different surfaces and specs of the unit too.
Recommend amplification & crossovers etc.
After mentioning this the owner told me he plans to include this in future.

I would have also liked to have had longer speaker wire from the unit, this didn't cause too much of an issue as I just soldered some extra on so it would reach from the mounted position to my amplifier.
A 6 foot speaker wire from the unit wouldn't go amiss, at least then it could be trimmed if necessary.

I would highly recommend the SA2 to anyone looking at adding a tactile transducer to their home theatre/gaming setup, you will not be disappointed.

Using a setup similar to mine to implement it really allows you to fine tune and get the best out of the SA2 allowing it to blend in to the rest of the system.

5* for the SA2! Great work!

This is a wonderful little device and it is powerful and subtle when it needs to be. I have a Dayton 300EX and it shakes good BUT this transducer builds to that shake and feels more tactile (won’t lie, good when combined) I would take the SA2 and pay the extra bit of money over the 300EX hands down. Things should only get better when my new power supply/amp arrive to reach its full potential. Which is scary cause it’s already a beast for my movies. Only complaint is that I wish the audio cord was a lot longer then what is supplied, or an easy option to cut/apply our own speaker cable for the connection