PV Audio's Playtest Thread

[kiteboard]

The guy also broke a promise to sell me two sets at reduced price. I would avoid him.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Sorry I haven't been keeping up! Just got my diploma this evening, am starting a new fitness program with my gf to play in some tournaments this summer, so I'll be back in action!

I'm also thinking about a racquet switch. After changing my strokes pretty significantly over the past year to make more power and spin with less effort, I think that I might be going back to my old preference. I'm stringing up my HM 200G and am going to hit with it tomorrow and see. I'm thinking a bit larger frame, open string pattern (200G isn't, but we'll see if it's what I'm after as far as weight), and most importantly, >12 oz. Looking to give my swings some more oomph since I'm generating more racquet head speed and more stability for consistency on the 1HBH stroke. Will see.

PV,

Stick with the Dunlop line.

I just got a AG4D300 and love it: more power, more spin, more margins, great feel.

Dunlop Aerogel 4D 200 Tour (2Hundred)
Head Size: 95 sq. in. / 613 sq. cm.
Length: 27.00 inches / 68.58 cm
Strung Weight: 12.30 oz / 349 g
Balance: 5pts HL

[pvaudio]

I actually don't think I'm going to even switch from the AG100. It just feels...right. No other racquet I've ever tried has felt so perfect for me right out of the gate. I think my concerns were from being sick and just not really focusing on technique. Having played since, no issues at all.

I think I'm going to put some Mosquito Bite/gut in here at lower tension and see how it plays.

[pvaudio]

For all future playtests, the reference string setup is now:

WeissCANNON Black5Edge / PerforMAXX WhisperTouch Natural Gut
Tension (lbs): 52/55

After numerous back to back hits, Scorpion just doesn't mesh as well with my new strokes as B5E does. It just feels more responsive from all areas of the court.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

For all future playtests, the reference string setup is now:

WeissCANNON Black5Edge / PerforMAXX WhisperTouch Natural Gut
Tension (lbs): 52/55

After numerous back to back hits, Scorpion just doesn't mesh as well with my new strokes as B5E does. It just feels more responsive from all areas of the court.

Attaboy! Given all the BHBR softness debates, how does it compare in terms of comfort to B5E?

[pvaudio]

Oh, BHBR and B5E aren't really comparable in terms of comfort. WC polys, just like Lux polys, don't feel like any other type. B5E in itself is very unique. It's soft, forgiving, but crisp and responsive. Scorpion and Turbotwist are very soft and forgiving, but lack the responsiveness that B5E offers. The control offered by Scorp cannot be matched, but overall, B5E just seems like a small step up.

[TenFanLA]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Oh, BHBR and B5E aren't really comparable in terms of comfort. WC polys, just like Lux polys, don't feel like any other type. B5E in itself is very unique. It's soft, forgiving, but crisp and responsive. Scorpion and Turbotwist are very soft and forgiving, but lack the responsiveness that B5E offers. The control offered by Scorp cannot be matched, but overall, B5E just seems like a small step up.

I've been playing BHBR last few months, BHSR more recently but I am feeling that Cyclone 18g has better control. It feels crisp too. I'm running out of Cyclone. Before I order a new reel how would you compare B5E to Cyclone? Which do you prefer and why?

[Doubles]

PV did you ever test Big Hitter Silver? I'm curious to see how it compares to Silver String...

[finalfantasy7]

pv, have u experianced strings behaving differently due to colour of string. Is it common?

[yonexpurestorm]

thanks for the reviews pv. im not sure what strings u still have left but a few setups i wanna try are poly mains either ps energy, bhbr with either tourna qgut, mantis confort, vanquish or multifeel. if you have a chance to review any combination of these poly multi setups id really appreciate it. thanks

[pvaudio]

Table of contents is complete in the first post.

[alexz]

Thanks for the TOC - it was a necessity for such a great thread. As everyone else mention there's loads of great string info here.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by finalfantasy7

pv, have u experianced strings behaving differently due to colour of string. Is it common?

Yes sir, yes indeed! Notable examples:

Gosen OG Sheep Micro
White: More powerful, more durable, much stiffer feel
Natural: More feel, much crisper, softer with less durability

Topspin Cyber Twirl
Orange(clay): Good tension maintenance, good spin, good feel, low power
Black: Atrocious TM, astounding spin, low feel, zero power

Technifibre X-1 Biphase
Red: Stupid amounts of power, no feel
Natural: Good power, decent feel, non-linear play (starts terrible, then plays like a dream, then ends as a trampoline)

Genesis SpinX
Red: Crisper, less powerful, more control, more feel
Grey: Softer, more powerful, less feel, more spin (more people prefer this, I don't)

Genesis Typhoon
Blue: Stiffer, less powerful, more control, more feel
Grey: Softer, more powerful, less control, more spin (more people prefer this, I don't)

And that's just off of my head out of the strings that I have sitting on my desk at the moment from stringing for customers. There's loads of examples out there. Kirschbaum PL2, PSGD, etc.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Table of contents is complete in the first post.

Dang, now you are making me wish I had posted my TOC in chronological order rather then ranking setups. Thanks for putting that together, I know it will benefit the rest of us.

[retlod]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Just got my diploma this evening...

Congratulations, PV!

I'm really digging B5E right now.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by retlod

Congratulations, PV!

I'm really digging B5E right now.

B5E is a must try for any 4.0+ player that utilizes spin.

[bigmalik76]

Great Information PV thank you.

[pvaudio]

New string in today. Very interesting one as well, although I don't know what to think of it yet. As a frequent e Bayer, I come across a lot of different strings regularly. Lots of cheap natural gut, lots of fake big name polys, and then the normal collection of slightly discounted strings. I'd always been curious about this one as it has a very strange description, and people are always bidding on it. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and put up a max of $30 and ended up with 5 sets of the stuff. I'm 100% sure many of you have seen this on there and have wondered what it was, and since I can't post a direct link to the Bay, I'll post the screenshot of the description:



Here are my pictures of unwrapping:







I haven't actually tried this stuff yet, but it smells like natural gut, looks like natural gut, burns like natural gut, feels like natural gut and stretches like natural gut. Since the claims are so bold, I'm 100% certain that it's simply gut with the "high-tech" jargon added in to make it seem special if it plays well. For example, if the reference standard for gut was Gaucho or Global gut then someone came out with VS Team, they could get away with the same nonsense in the advert since it does play much better. Whether or not it's down to the carbon nanofibers in this case is another issue. I'm in the camp that says: BS.

[Readers]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Whether or not it's down to the carbon nanofibers in this case is another issue. I'm in the camp that says: BS.

Agree, even at 10% it should make it so stiff that you can't use it as tennis string.

[pvaudio]

If I can just get through some of the jargon, a carbon nanofiber is simply a form of carbon. Carbon comes in a bunch of allotropes which all of you are familiar with: diamonds and graphite being well known. All that a nanofiber is is the special arrangement of the atoms to create small plates or cones. They're then manipulated in various ways to usually make composite materials. They can even be literally spun into thread to make superman like clothing that has the potential to put kevlar to rest. Either way, having them in a natural gut string just doesn't make sense from a logical nor a chemical standpoint. "Down to the core" also doesn't make sense as natural gut is a twisted natural fiber and has no core anyway.

The titanium hydroxide coating is also a load of crap. TiO2(OH)2 isn't commonly found in nature. The way you get it is when you mix titanium dioxide (the TiO2 part; a basic white pigment, and is actually what they use at Wimbledon for the lines) with water under certain conditions. Under these conditions, it's very volatile and is only possible to create the compound by undergoing this reaction. I think they meant titanium dioxide since the string is abnormally bright to look at for a natural gut. It's almost as white as old VS gut was, but that had a wax like coating which caused it to seem brighter. This doesn't.