Sam,
I have no experience 'bass shakers', however I have had the fun of experiencing
D-Box. D-Box is IMHO a fantastic addition to an HT setup. Of course the price is not cheap by any means, which is why I haven't got one. It's on my wish list of things I can't afford!
Go and demo a D-Box setup if you can. I watched about 20 minutes of Bolt and was just amazed. The best part was I didn't even know it was a D-Box setup when I sat down. I was a bit freaked out when the couch 1st started moving along with the train Bolt was on!