Tekna Sonic C-10 Vibration Control Absorbers Others

Tekna Sonic C-10 Vibration Control Absorbers Others 

DESCRIPTION

The C-10's are a vibration control device which can be attached to the back of your speakers.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-9 of 9  
[Sep 12, 2003]
raycox
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

none

Weakness:

dont work and no customer service

Tekna vibration absorbers Based on a glowing review by Audio Advisor I bought 2 Model C 12's. When they did nothing and I read the instructions I was told by AA that I neede 1 C-12 and 1 c-10 for each speaker. Not only did they do nothing but the magnets have lost their magnetic field and will not stay on Cals to AA and Tekna produce nothing.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jul 26, 2003]
Pat
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Ability to improve the sound of modestly-priced loudspeakers for a relatively low price.

Weakness:

Probably not well suited to well designed high end speakers.

In my experience, it really depends on the speakers you attach these to. I first installed them on a pair of JBL LX500 bookshelf speakers. These are great low to mid-level speakers and very well made for the price (approx. $500 new back in '93). However, like the majority of speakers in this price range, they are prone to a certain amount of cabinet resonance. The Tekna Sonic's really worked. The midrange was much less congested sounding, imaging was better and the highs were noticably smoother. Later, I bought a pair of JBL L7 floorstanders. These are vastly superior to the LX500's and much more expensive. The Tekna Sonics made absolutely no difference with these speakers and I ended up removing them. I believe this is because the L7's are extremely well built and substantially braced. Therefore, there are little, if any, cabinet resonances to begin with. Also, the L7's are much larger and heavier speakers than the 500's. Tekna Sonic recommends using 2 C-10's for speakers of this size and weight. Perhaps I would have heard a slight improvement if I had installed 2 C-10's per speaker. If I hadn't already heard the dramatic improvement the Tekna's made on my previous pair of speakers, I would have thought they were a total rip off. Instead, I feel that they have the potential to significantly improve the performance of lower to mid-level priced speakers, or, for that matter, any speaker with noticable cabinent resonance problems.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 23, 2003]
tonylouis
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None

Weakness:

Poorly made. Cheap quality. Defective product.

These C-10s actually made my system sound worse. One of them appeared defective. The plates were not evenly spaced so that two plates nearly touched and would vibrate and hit each other, introducing extraneously sounds into the music. When I tried only the non-defective C10, I could hear no difference in the performance of my speakers. Basically I spent a lot of money to ruin the sound of a very good system.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 23, 2003]
tonylouis
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None

Weakness:

Poorly made. The defective unit made my system sound worse.

These C-10s actually made my system sound worse. One of them appeared defective. The plates were not evenly spaced so that two plates nearly touched and would vibrate and hit each other, introducing extraneously sounds into the music. When I tried only the non-defective C10, I could hear no difference in the performance of my speakers.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jul 15, 2002]
carbonfiber
AudioPhile

Strength:

They do seem to dissipate resonance. I always found that using a C-10 or C-12 where appropriate works as advertised with positive results.

Weakness:

Although I like the magnet concept for A/B testing. Sometimes it's difficult to get all the glue off the speaker finish if it's been attached for years.

I've utilized the Tekna Sonics on speakers for years. I used them on small speakers as well as large full range speakers. On full range speakers, I definately recommend using both the C-10 and the C-12. You can also utilize more than one if your speakers are large enough. But I've found that you always want at least as many C-10s as C-12s. Never more C-12s than C10s. They also work on shelves and even on the components themselves. But like anything you attach to a shelf, speaker or component, the resonant frequency of that object changes. You should take this into consideratation when auditioning these devices. If you utilize too many, the system may seem overly bright and loose some dynamic bloom and air. In conclusion, they always work on speakers in a positive way. With other devices, you may have to experiment, but the systems I've tried them in netted positive results when used intellegently. Definately try them under shelves.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing similar in the market.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 19, 2000]
Chris
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None

I tried these on my Monitor Audio Silver 5i's. I spent a week audtioning them. I detected no difference with these devices installed in terms of clarity, sound stage, bass, mid's or treble. Possibly, they may work in applications where cabinet colorations are a problem. If you have Monitor Audio Silver 5's invest in a good set of bi-wire speaker cables instead. You will notice a huge difference.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Apr 14, 2000]
Steve Cuskley
Audiophile

Strength:

Every aspect of the sound improved.

Weakness:

NONE.

For $100, what could you possibly expect? (especially when you put them in a $16,000 system). Actually, it was $200, because I bought both the model 10 and 12 vibration absorbers. I thought my system sounded pretty darn good already (Meridian 518, Meridian 563 upgraded to accept 24-bit signal from the 518 going direct to a Plinius SA 100 mk II with mk III wiring upgrade, lots of pricey wires, and my dearly beloved Proac Response 3.5's). Welllllll, this is gonna a little bit "out there", but the difference was STARTLING! Everything improved! I would say "especially the bass", but that's only because it's the first thing I looked for. You might think that absorbing vibration from speaker cabinets would reduce the force of the bass, but quite the opposite happened. Of course, the bass "tightened" (all to the better), but became MORE POWERFUL. It took all of 2 notes to hear the differnce. I probably had to hear 2 more notes before it was apparent that the midrange and treble were cleaned up quite dramatically, too. Better imaging? Yup. Soundstage? Yup. Dynamics? Yup. Attack and decay? Yup. Anything else you can think of? You betcha. I suspect that the degree of improvement may be greater for large speakers (mine are about 4 feet tall), but if you want a risk-free trial, get 'em from Audio Advisor. (I have nothing to do with them or any audio store or manufacturer other than I'm a customer). What have you got to lose?

Similar Products Used:

There are none.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 19, 2000]
James
Audiophile

Strength:

None

Weakness:

Everything, they don't do anything

I bought these from Audio Advisor since I wanted to get rid of cabinet vibration problems of my Sound Dynamics RTS-3s. Before I attached the C-10s, I ran a frequency sweep going from 400Hz down to 70Hz. I placed my hands on top and side of the speaker cabinet. I found out that there were major vibrations occuring between 270 and 330 Hz. I then did the same procedure with the C-10s on the back of the speaker cabinet. Guess what happened? Nothing. Same vibrations occured around 270Hz-330Hz. In fact, when I placed my hand on the C-10s, The vibrations were even stronger - the C-10s vibrated along with the cabinet!

For the people who think that they make a difference, I think that they are just experiencing a placebo. Do the same test like I did to find the truth. You need a test cd that have continuous signal sweeps around the lower midrange area though.

These vibration absorbers are pure BS. If they truly work, they why won't some speaker manufacturers use them instead of bracing and using thicking MDF for their speaker cabinets? I hope that Stereophile reviews these things along with measurements to prove that they don't do anything!!!

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Aug 24, 1999]
Rainer Ho Ten Soeng
an Audio Enthusiast

Hello everybody,
I would like to bring a very special product under your attention.
After reading a lot about Tekna Sonic's vibration control devices on the Net,
I decided to try them out myself. I bought a pair of C-10 Vibration Control devices to try them out on my JBL L-60 loudspeakers and I must say that I was absolutely stunned by what the C-10's did for me.
After attaching them to the back of my speakers, I first thought that somebody had secretly turned up the volume of my amplifier since everything seemed to be so much crystal clear now! It was as if I suddenly heard more music, more of the little details in the sound.

It is as if the midrange especially has become more focused, more present, more room filling. Now please don't get me wrong: if you really have bad speakers then the C-10 won't turn them into the latest models from Martin Logan. But if you have a decent set-up and want to take the most out of it, the C-10 can do something of a little miracle.
It can give your sound that little extra which makes it really enjoyable to listen to your system for hours in a row.

For $100, the C-10 really are worth their money and a tweak to be seriously considered by everybody out there who is striving for the best sound possible.

You can't go wrong with those devices in my humble opinion; just give them a try. I am sure you will just like me very excited about them!

Take care,

Rainer

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
Showing 1-9 of 9  

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