OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Couga Tune-Up


Well firstly, For those that are interested please read my previous review on the Standard version of the Couga before reading this one. Since this review is mainly for the Tune-Up version, I'll be mostly comparing the differences rather than doing a full review on this specific version. Basically if you've heard of the Synergy Tech from Stiga or the Powersponge from Butterfly, then you will have a fair idea of what this is like. For those that aren't too bothered with all that, the Tune-up version is basically having the speedglue effect built in at the time of manufacturing.

At the time of this review I had glued the rubbers onto my blade with 2 thin layers of normal glue and allowed them to dry for 10hrs before reviewing them. I did this to ensure that I could test the Tune-Up effect without the interference of my own glue effects.

Ok, onto the playing performance. Well very first impressions told me that there isn't that much difference between the two versions. On soft and controlled impacts both are almost identical. Even the feel between the two is very similar. When it comes to hitting, blocking, pushing everything is as you would expect. Theres really no nasty surprises or anything like that, its very controlled (even for a Couga). So far I'm not that impressed as the difference isn't great enough to cause a big fuzz.

This sure enough changed when I started to crank it up when looping, On hard impacts the sound starts to come alive. Theres a very nice speedglue like pop to it, although not as strong as real speedglue its nice none the less. Compared to the regular Couga, this definitely had more sound.......but its just sound. Speed and spin is almost identical.

Verdict: The characteristics haven't changed between the models, only the Sound on loud impacts resembles the actual glue effect. To compare the Tune-up version to a glued up regular couga, the "real" glue effect runs rings around the tune-up version. The tune-up only has about 20-30% effect of the real thing at best. Basically Tune-up = Louder regular Couga.

SpinSpiel Ultima Tune-Up Review


Physical Inspection

The overall rubber looks to be made of very high quality. The topsheet is quite dark in colour and the pips are surprisingly large. Its almost identical to the Triple topsheet from TSP. While I was cutting the rubber I noticed that it flaked rather easily, to me this topsheet looks to be rather brittle and I have confirmed that with 2 sessions of play. The Ultima sponge underneath isn't any different from any of the other rubbers with the ultima under it.

Hitting/Blocking

I'm quite surprised here, I was expecting a medium speed controlled rubber. This is not at all the case as its fairly fast for a sticky rubber. Compared to the couga on the other side its about 20%slower. Everything felt very controlled when it comes to hitting and blocking. Nothing outstanding but not dissapointing either. The only downside is that on aggressive counters the rubber does top out a little, but thats to be expected.

Pushing / Serving

Needless to say excellent like all sticky rubbers. Pushes can be loaded with heavy back effortlessly. Serving is even better, everything just feels precise.

Looping / Counter Looping

Looping with the spinspiel is quite good. Its not too fast that makes all your shots lack spin or too slow that it can be punished by the opponent. The speed is just right for a allround game, the spin is outstanding as the topsheet will just grip anything and load it up with heavy top. At the mis distance it does lack a little power, but thats to be expected from a spin machine.

Verdict

Great allround spin rubber. It looks almost identical to the Triple but plays almost the same as a 999Elite. So for those that are looking for high quality japanese tacky rubbers, this is quite a interesting one.

Cheers LawOCG!

It really does make me wonder what they used to tune it with, since the CTE and Booster I've tried had good effect.... Perhaps will will work better in some of the other rubbers...

LOL!!! Love that: "COMING SOON STAY TUNED!"

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

UPDATE:After 12hours of play both the tune up rubbers are holding up ok. The noise is still the same as day 1. There is one slight problem and that is the rubbers are shrinking. I've lost about maybe 3-5mm all around the head shape. Will post pictures soon.

Weird.. I've never had that happen to me...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

BTW my Yanus DF shrinks and I made the importer contact Xiom to find out why, they said that you have to use 3 thin layers of glue to prime the rubber/sponge and allow each layer to dry for an hour before the next layers goes on them stick it to the blade or it will shrink.

Gregg

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Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive Blade
Xiom Vega DEF Max Red
TSP P-R1 1mm-1.3mm Black

I've just talked to someone else who's used the tuned up version of a Dr N Domination rubber... This is the same technology (tuning) that JUIC uses. They also say that if you remove the rubber from the blade, it will shrink...

I guess the idea is not to remove it from the blade after you've glue it on...

LawOCG: Yours did shrink AFTER you removed it from the blade right? Not while it was glue onto the blade...(which is what I had trouble understanding )...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Oh sorry for the confusion. What I meant was that I glued the rubbers with minimal expansion and minimal solvents when they were brand new. After a few sessions of play I removed the rubber from the blade and ta dah!....they shrank on me . I think the sealed foil packaging was to stop it from shrinking before it got to us.

The pictures were taken 2 days ago, currently its a just a little bit smaller than that. It may not be so severe in the pictures but its hard as hell to glue it back up to full size without messing it up with stretching and all.

Cheers mate! Nice pics!

Yep that will be something to keep in mind, once it goes on, it does not come off. I guess you could stretch it with VOC glue and when the effect wears off it should perform the same again... Still I agree it's a nuisance

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Wow, I'd never seen the Couga topsheet up-close. It *really* looks like Almana's.

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Jpen: Galaxy 982 juniper 8mm- Darker Provine Tension-50 2.2 or Tibhar Torpedo Soft 2.2
Shake OFF: Galaxy T8 ST- FH: Darker PT-50 2.2, BH: Juic Varites 1.5
Shake DEF: modified Joo- FH: Reactor Corbor 2.2, BH: Globe 979 1.5