PV Audio's Playtest Thread

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by g4driver

pvaudio and mikeler,

I have B5E and Silverstring in reels thanks to pvaudio's great playtesting. I am trying to lower the Wilson Steam 99S' stiffness the best I can with strings while staying with this frame. Love the frame, but my elbow doesn't like most frames over RDC measurements of 66, especially with fully poly.

Any suggestions? I have Tonic Gut 16g / Yonex Poly Pro Tour 16g in one frame, going to cut out the full bed of Yonex Poly Pro Tour in the other one as it's too stiff, and try Tonic Gut / Silverstring or B5E. I figure SS will last longer, maybe I am wrong to assume.

FYI: It takes me 12 hours to break 16g NRG or X-One crosses with B5E mains in a Wilson Pro Open strung at 55/55. Since I don't break strings as fast as you guys or couch, I'd love any more ideas you guys have.

I have been using B5E/X-One for 18 months and loved that combo, but it will not work in the Wilson Steam 99s with the 16x15 pattern.

Thanks guys.

P.S. Mikeler, you will get the B5E on Thursday according to the UPS manager. Sorry for the delay.

Tonic/SS should be a great hybrid. I personally do not think that B5E works well as a cross. SS, however, makes a very solid cross even though it's not my favorite. It has a very solid feel which is hard to explain.

[g4driver]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Tonic/SS should be a great hybrid. I personally do not think that B5E works well as a cross. SS, however, makes a very solid cross even though it's not my favorite. It has a very solid feel which is hard to explain.

Thanks pvaudio.

Played a match tonight. Won the first set 6-2 with the gut / poly, went down 1-3 in the next set, hitting too long, and won 5 games straight to finish after switching frames to full poly frame. Just could not dial it in against this pusher, got mad at myself and played better.

Ordered 5 sets of Tonic as, I know gut is the best long term option.

Will keep you posted on the Tonic / SS after I hit with it on Saturday. Out of town till Friday afternoon now .

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Tonic/SS should be a great hybrid. I personally do not think that B5E works well as a cross. SS, however, makes a very solid cross even though it's not my favorite. It has a very solid feel which is hard to explain.

I've played Tonic/SS. It's got a great feel. Good control. Great pop. Solid is a good way to describe it. It's got a rather firm bed.

[g4driver]

Originally Posted by alidisperanza

I've played Tonic/SS. It's got a great feel. Good control. Great pop. Solid is a good way to describe it. It's got a rather firm bed.

Any recommendations on the softest gut/poly you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much.

[bosssauce]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Tonic/SS should be a great hybrid. I personally do not think that B5E works well as a cross. SS, however, makes a very solid cross even though it's not my favorite. It has a very solid feel which is hard to explain.

why do you always buy reels?

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by g4driver

Any recommendations on the softest gut/poly you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much.

Hmm, I tend to play stiffer polys with gut to temper the bed but three strings I'd research/look into are Pro Line II, the Head Sonic line, and for the softest end PolyStar Energy.

Realistically though, I'd drop the tension a bit on your poly and go with something that will hold tension for a while/ not die out. PV has a bit more experience than I do with different types of gut/poly. I tend to stick to SilverString and stiffer.

[JT_2eighty]

Originally Posted by alidisperanza

Hmm, I tend to play stiffer polys with gut to temper the bed but three strings I'd research/look into are Pro Line II, the Head Sonic line, and for the softest end PolyStar Energy.

I'd stay away from PS Energy as a cross to gut... it loses tension too quickly and I found it to be way too unpredictable with my gut. Every day was a different experience, not what you want in a string.

I would honestly say MSV Co-Focus is an amazing cross to gut. Not only due to all the threads about it, as I've used it too, and it really is soft and predictable. It does soften over time as well, which most polys tend to do the opposite, but this means you can string it at or near the tension you like your gut, knowing the co-focus will get softer. I'm not a fan of stringing crosses more than 3lbs lower than my mains, even though its ok to do so.

If it weren't for the 16x15 pattern you are using, I'd suggest WC Mosquito Bite as the all-time great soft poly cross. It holds tension wonderfully, but that's going to break fast in the 99S. (only comes in 1.16mm)

Co-Focus comes in many gauges and colors, so you can tweak it to your needs. 1.27mm is their thickest offering, which is also the best for tension stability, and still nice and soft and spinny. They also make "Focus Hex Soft" in 1.30mm. I've not tried it yet, but it's probably nice too, as regular Hex is definitely stiffer than Co-Focus.

[bosssauce]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

why do you always buy reels?

just bumping this

[Doubles]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

just bumping this

It's cheaper in many cases.

[bosssauce]

Originally Posted by Doubles

It's cheaper in many cases.

but if you hate it you wasted money

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

but if you hate it you wasted money

Depends how much you resell it for.

[Doubles]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

but if you hate it you wasted money

So you buy a set first to see if you like it? Make sense?

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

why do you always buy reels?

I definitely don't always buy reels. I will buy a reel if I a. will use it myself or b. if it's a tremendous value or c. if I know I can sell it to customers. For example, my reel of Tornado was bought from England and cost less than half of what it does here. You can get 4.5 sets here for the cost of the reel there. Since I a. like it and c. resell a lot of it, it repaid itself almost immediately. My reels of WC polys are all for me. The other reason is that I like variety. It's very easy (if you know who to ask) to find reels which were damaged in shipping so that they're no longer fit for retail sale. Since this obviously doesn't damage the string, I tend to scoop these up for like 70% off (all of my Signum Pro (aside from Tornado), Genesis and Polyfibre products are like this). So there are quite a few reasons.

My most expensive strings I do not have in reel form aside from a 330ft reel of ALU simply because it's the one string I can't convince people to try something new over.

[Doubles]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

I definitely don't always buy reels. I will buy a reel if I a. will use it myself or b. if it's a tremendous value or c. if I know I can sell it to customers. For example, my reel of Tornado was bought from England and cost less than half of what it does here. You can get 4.5 sets here for the cost of the reel there. Since I a. like it and c. resell a lot of it, it repaid itself almost immediately. My reels of WC polys are all for me. The other reason is that I like variety. It's very easy (if you know who to ask) to find reels which were damaged in shipping so that they're no longer fit for retail sale. Since this obviously doesn't damage the string, I tend to scoop these up for like 70% off (all of my Signum Pro (aside from Tornado), Genesis and Polyfibre products are like this). So there are quite a few reasons.

My most expensive strings I do not have in reel form aside from a 330ft reel of ALU simply because it's the one string I can't convince people to try something new over.

Help your buddy out?

[bosssauce]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

I definitely don't always buy reels. I will buy a reel if I a. will use it myself or b. if it's a tremendous value or c. if I know I can sell it to customers. For example, my reel of Tornado was bought from England and cost less than half of what it does here. You can get 4.5 sets here for the cost of the reel there. Since I a. like it and c. resell a lot of it, it repaid itself almost immediately. My reels of WC polys are all for me. The other reason is that I like variety. It's very easy (if you know who to ask) to find reels which were damaged in shipping so that they're no longer fit for retail sale. Since this obviously doesn't damage the string, I tend to scoop these up for like 70% off (all of my Signum Pro (aside from Tornado), Genesis and Polyfibre products are like this). So there are quite a few reasons.

My most expensive strings I do not have in reel form aside from a 330ft reel of ALU simply because it's the one string I can't convince people to try something new over.

I didnt know you had customers. Who do you get the 70% off from

[swfh]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

The other reason is that I like variety. It's very easy (if you know who to ask) to find reels which were damaged in shipping so that they're no longer fit for retail sale. Since this obviously doesn't damage the string, I tend to scoop these up for like 70% off (all of my Signum Pro (aside from Tornado), Genesis and Polyfibre products are like this).

In my culture we share secrets with each other...

[bosssauce]

Do you play until they break?

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by bosssauce

Do you play until they break?

If it's a synthetic cross, yep. The cross breaks just as the poly dies.

[pvaudio]

As far as the discounted string, just look on the Bay. You'll see a few every now and again. I've just happened to snatch up enough that a few retailers have said they'll email me before listing since I always pay the price they request. Obviously I am not at liberty to list off TW's competitors, so I'll just say this: it never hurts to ask

[bosssauce]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

As far as the discounted string, just look on the Bay. You'll see a few every now and again. I've just happened to snatch up enough that a few retailers have said they'll email me before listing since I always pay the price they request. Obviously I am not at liberty to list off TW's competitors, so I'll just say this: it never hurts to ask

thanks do you play till poly break?