Tectonic M8.0

WBVReviewed.com Machine Review

Tectonic M8.0 Full Review

Tectonic Vibration is well known for their commercial and professional grade quality vibration machines and the newest Tectonic M8.0 is no exception. They have a single motor, oscillation only machine called the M2.0; a two motor, three motions vibration machine called the M6.0; and the newest single motor, triplanar only machine called the M8.0. The M8.0 in this review has the same motion as the Power Plate, DKN, 3G Cardio and was designed to fill the void for an affordable, full sized, commercial grade machine under a $3000 price tag.

Platform and Frame Design

Compared to other triplanar machines, the Tectonic M8.0 is built relatively light weight at 129 lbs and supports users upto about 450 lbs. A 150 watt triplanar motor is mounted on the underside of the large standing platform and is the driving force behind the triplanar vibration. The platform is comprised of 2 plates, top and bottom piece, with four red metal springs sandwiched between them in the four corners of the platform. There are two notches on the sides of the platform for you to attach the hand straps that come with the machine. The surface of the platform is a soft foam like material. It is very different than the sand paper type, gritty surface that you find on the Power Plate or other triplanar style of machines. The built in foam makes the machine easier on the feet if you go bare feet as opposed to having to wear some form of shoes with the other gritty material. The springs on the platform are soft and you can feel the spring move just by standing and bouncing on the platform. The platform is a generous 31″ wide by 27″ deep so you will have plenty of space doing whatever exercise you need to do. This is great for users that are taller or users that want to do wide stance exercises such as deep squats. On the back of the machine are the rear wheels where you can tilt the machine and roll it to a new location without having to lift the machine up.

The slender pole on the Tectonic M8.0 does not restrict you and makes the machine feel very roomy. The handlebars are fairly long and big and makes it easy to hold onto if you require it for balance. The material used to wrap the handlebar feels durable and not slippery even if you have sweaty hands. Because of the thinner pole design, if you pull or push onto the handlebar and column, the column does give a little but not to the point where it feels unsafe. We tried standing on the platform and just leaning on the top part of the handlebar and the column did not feel like it will give or snap, despite the little “give”, it still feels solid. The top part of the column where the control panel is mounted is sloped backwards which gives us a lot more space to work with. When you stand on the platform, the surrounding feels more roomy because of this, and we like it a lot. DKN and Power Plate all has their columns upright with an angled control panel, you still feel restricted because the control panel is so close to you.

Control Panel Operation

The control panel is an orange, yellow, and red color. It looks fairly sharp but just a bit too bright and flamboyant for my taste. On the top you will see the timer countdown and frequency setting. On the left are 4 timer buttons that allows you to set the machine to run for 30s, 45s, 60s, or 90s. On the right, the frequency settings at 30 Hz, 35 Hz, 40 Hz, or 45 Hz. There is an intensity setting, to adjust a higher (2.5mm) or lower (1.5 mm) amplitude.  A start/stop button to trigger motion on the machine, and a program button to select one of the five pre-set exercise programs you want to use. The pre-sets are programmed for 12 minutes and will automatically adjust the frequency as you are using the machine for that specific interval. Normally, you would select the frequency and the duration of the vibration in the regular manual mode. Operation is simple as there are only 4 settings for each of the time and the frequency.

The intensity setting allows you to set the machine to vibrate with a low up and down motion (low amplitude), or a high up and down motion (high amplitude). The low is a 1.5 mm movement and is more gentle, whereas the high is more aggressive at the 2.5 mm movement. Generally, you would want to stick with the high for greater muscle stimulation.

Vibration Intensity

As with all triplanar machines, you can stand pretty much anywhere on the platform and get the same vibration from wherever you stand. Try not to stand completely straight or it might get uncomfortable for your head. The 30 Hz on the machine feels like massage but once you change that to 40 or 45 Hz, that’s where you can really feel the strong movement intensity of the platform. A 60 second workout on 45 Hz is pretty intense and if you are able to work up to 90 seconds then you are in pretty good shape. The power and intensity rivals that of the DKN XG 5 (20-50 Hz), Power Plate my5 (30-40 Hz), and most certainly the Power Plate my3 (35 Hz only).

The Test

When using the triplanar machine, a good starting position for new users is make sure to stand shoulder width apart and have your knees slightly bent so that you do not jam/lock your joints. As soon as you step onto the platform, you can feel a bounce from the four red springs.  This feels almost identical to a DKN platform which also uses spring coils in their machines.  In comparison, the Power Plate machines do not have this bouncy feeling.  Once you press start, the machine would make a mechanical click to select the high or low amplitude gear, then engages the motor.  The machine takes very little time to ramp up to the selected speed setting, which allows you to jump into your exercise routine immediately.  The motion is very consistent and when standing on each of the four corners, I can feel the same vibration motion, which means the motor and the springs distribute an even vibration throughout the platform.  Speed selection is simple to select, and the machine reacts quickly and jumps to the new setting within a second.  Overall, a very responsive machine.

Final Thoughts

Compared to other triplanar machines in the same class, the Tectonic M8.0 has a lot of value since it is much cheaper in price and has a good set of features and functions that rivals other machines. The large platform size, low price point, wider frequency range and time settings make the M8.0 very competitive and is an excellent full sized machine if you are considering purchasing a good quality triplanar machine. If you care for function and quality over brand name, and your primary concern is to help with bone density improvements and muscle strengthening then the M8.0 would be a great machine for you.