SoundSeat users back rest sizing/position question

[lar]

Keep in mind that you can drill and tap your own hole anywhere you want, potentially giving you more forward or aft travel. That's what I did.

The hole is 8mm coarse thread.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Sonic Radiance

It does stink. When I first got the backrest I thought maybe I would get used to the new discomfort. (Bad idea…lesson learned—if something is uncomfortable figure out the problem, don’t think you will adjust to it). I have not gotten used to it in several months.
Finally I decided to reach out to SoundSeat. And now I’m really thankful for all your responses and pics.

I’m wondering if somehow my seat was built differently? Mine just looks like it wouldn’t come close to where these other pics show the back rest is positioned, even with another hole to put the knob thru.

Sadly, I’m not sure what to do to remedy this.

I’m still considering putting a standard sized backrest on this. But that would cost more, and I’m just wondering if this seat with backrest just doesn’t fit taller people well.

Frustrating…

Not having the seat in front of me, is there any possibility that the arm can be reversed, or it was assembled incorrectly?

The Soundseat folks are legendary for their customer service, so I'm positive a few more photos and possibly e-mails will get you satisfaction.

No owner should be expected to "drill and tap" their own solution to an obvious problem with the mechanics of the back support bar.

[Sonic Radiance]

It is assembled correctly. There’s no way the arm can be reversed. There’s only one orientation and only one side with the machined holes for the bolt to screw into.
The SoundSeat folks have been helpful. They have offered a few possible remedies.
Their current suggestion is the reason I posted here—to find a nearby standard sized back that I could possibly try.
However, from the pics I have seen posted here, the standard size back would need to be significantly shallower to allow me to be seated back far enough. And even if it was, it would still be positioned on the same back bar, so likely the front of each size back would be situated on the same plane—way too far forward for comfortable sitting. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try, or again if anyone could speak to this, I’d really appreciate it.

Another remedy suggested was to get a new underchair mechanism with base and lift. The retro-fit MP seat does not have the separate hole posterior to the channel (the bolt slides in) on the underchair mechanism (labeled “1” on haasomes pic in post #5). So if I ordered the base, lift, mechanism, then I would gain whatever distance lies between the channel and the additional hole, maybe an inch max? Looks more like half an inch.

I really don’t want to pay more, and then gain half an inch. I’m feeling like I need at LEAST 2 inches til I will feel seated in position.

[Dakotabison]

It looks like your backrest sits about a half inch in from the back of your seat, is that correct? To clarify, it looks like you lose about a half inch of your seat because its occupied by the backrest. I just measured from the edge of my backrest to about the same spot on my seat and it was around 2 inches. I have mine set at whats labeled as hole 1 on the image earlier in the thread.

[Sonic Radiance]

Originally Posted by Dakotabison

It looks like your backrest sits about a half inch in from the back of your seat, is that correct? To clarify, it looks like you lose about a half inch of your seat because its occupied by the backrest. I just measured from the edge of my backrest to about the same spot on my seat and it was around 2 inches. I have mine set at whats labeled as hole 1 on the image earlier in the thread.

That’s correct… backrest sits in about half an inch over the seat.
Would you do me a huge favor?
Would you take the bolt out of hole “1”… and put it into the mechanism in the channel and slide the seat back as far as it will go, then measure from the edge of the backrest to the seat?
Positioned as I just described is how my seat is in the pics I took.
So I would be very curious to know if yours looks and measures the same.
Thank you!

[bendandsnap]

It looks defective to me. Maybe when they manufactured the chair. Can you ship it back to Soundseat for them to inspect, fix or replace it if necessary? You paid a lot of money for it and not being able to use it comfortably sucks. Sorry to hear all the trouble you’re going through.

[Dakotabison]

Originally Posted by Sonic Radiance

That’s correct… backrest sits in about half an inch over the seat.
Would you do me a huge favor?
Would you take the bolt out of hole “1”… and put it into the mechanism in the channel and slide the seat back as far as it will go, then measure from the edge of the backrest to the seat?
Positioned as I just described is how my seat is in the pics I took.
So I would be very curious to know if yours looks and measures the same.
Thank you!

I’m sorry I didn’t see this until now. I will do it later this evening when I am back at home and get back to you. I do recall that when I first put it together my backrest was sitting like yours and it felt like I was being pushed forward. That’s when I started playing around with it. It currently looks like Rev Roys seat.

[Sonic Radiance]

I’d love to see any pics if you get a chance. Anyone else with the backrest extended back all the way, I’d love to see your pics. Trying to compare with mine, which is not allowing me to sit comfortably.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by Sonic Radiance

I’d love to see any pics if you get a chance. Anyone else with the backrest extended back all the way, I’d love to see your pics. Trying to compare with mine, which is not allowing me to sit comfortably.

I already posted a pic earlier in this thread…but hopefully these closeups will help you even more.

[Sonic Radiance]

Thank you! Those are exactly the pictures I needed. They show the seat and backrest orientation when the backrest is slid back completely in the channel underneath.
When my backrest is in that position, mine is quite a bit more forward.
Thanks again for taking the time to post pics!

[Dogma]

Please let us know how this turns out. I've been thinking about getting one of these seats but don't want to fork out that kind of dough if the company's response it that you should modify or otherwise take care of it yourself. Hopefully it works out for you!

[bisco1]

I have the exact same problem with my Sound Seat. There simply no way to get the back rest far enough back. The back rest support bar is made out of a piece of 1-3/4" X 1/4" flat bar, and I am going to make a replacement one that is about 2" longer on the bottom part. I happen to have the tools to do this myself, but I realize that many don't. IMHO, Sound Seat should re-design that bar so that it is longer. I can see no possible reason not to-there is more than enough adjustment to be able to go forward even after making that piece a couple of inches longer.
Bill

[tadol]

I’m pretty sure I’ve exhausted all options of adjusting my SS - I know I’ve removed the back and tried to remount it with the existing hardware, but didn’t see any easy option -

If you (or anyone else) made a couple extra and decided to offer a replacement steel bar, I know I’d be very interested in hearing about it -

[Sonic Radiance]

Originally Posted by bisco1

I have the exact same problem with my Sound Seat. There simply no way to get the back rest far enough back. The back rest support bar is made out of a piece of 1-3/4" X 1/4" flat bar, and I am going to make a replacement one that is about 2" longer on the bottom part. I happen to have the tools to do this myself, but I realize that many don't. IMHO, Sound Seat should re-design that bar so that it is longer. I can see no possible reason not to-there is more than enough adjustment to be able to go forward even after making that piece a couple of inches longer.
Bill

Bill this was one of my requests when I contacted SoundSeat, if they could make a back bar 2 inches longer. They said that the increased leverage would create an imbalance that would be dangerous. However, to their credit, they did offer to look into making one for me. They estimated it would be around $50.
Even if it creates an imbalance, if that’s the only way I’ll be able to use the seat with backrest, I may do it anyway.

I’m a bit frustrated that ordering an MP sized seat creates a scenario where the back rest simply doesn’t go back far enough due to imbalance.

I really want to start sitting on this seat again, because the seat itself is very comfortable and supportive! I’m waiting to hear from SoundSeat on next steps. I will report back when I hear from them.

[tadol]

If moving the seat back creates an imbalance thats dangerous, then we need to move the seat a bit forward to offset it - awful lot of work to make a rather expensive luxury actually practical -