New Donnay X-Series - My Thoughts

[OriginalHockeytowner]

The other day I played around with my friend's X-Black 94 strung with Wilson Sensation @ 55lbs, with the 10g buttcap.

It was nirvana, just otherworldly stuff. I couldn't miss, and every shot just felt so easy, and effortless. The feel, the control, the spin, the comfort, everything was just perfect.

[Marcus2137]

I just played a few hours and I'm really falling in love with the red-94+s that I just got. Even my hitting partners are noticing more consistency, more spin/better slices, better placement without me even asking them.

I'm still a little bothered that 2 of mine came with lead on top and 1 came with silicon in the handle. I've confirmed with that other 94+ owners do not have lead on top and weigh what the serial number says it should.

The good news is that it definitely looks like the lead is NOT to fix poor QC. The amount of lead on top seems to be exactly the amount my 94+s are overweight.

The other good news is the 1 racket that has silicon in the handle instead of lead on top still plays great (really great!), so I don't think the lead on top is covering up some engineering/performance defect, just like I don't think it is to hide QC issues. So it's a mystery of why there is lead there at all, and why only some have it.

Regardless, these frames are really incredible. The heaviest frame currently has a swingweight of 350 but it swings like something around 320-325. It's still easy to snap my wrist if I want to put a little something more/different on the ball or react to strange bounce, and my OHBH feels wonderful even when returning heavy pace.

[PGlock]

The Donnay site lists the recommended tension for the X-Dual Gold and X-Dual Platinum at 50 pounds +/- 5. I found similar changes for the X-Series Red 94 and 99 with printed specs on the racquets listing 55 pounds +/- 5 but later the Donnay site was changed to list 52 pounds +/- 5. They probably found that the racquets needed a lower tension range to play better.

[Readers]

Originally Posted by PGlock

The Donnay site lists the recommended tension for the X-Dual Gold and X-Dual Platinum at 50 pounds +/- 5. I found similar changes for the X-Series Red 94 and 99 with printed specs on the racquets listing 55 pounds +/- 5 but later the Donnay site was changed to list 52 pounds +/- 5. They probably found that the racquets needed a lower tension range to play better.

No, Gold was listed as 50 +-5 since the beginning, Donnay's site is weird, their number do not match what's printed on the frame, also, they used to have their own stiffness rating, but now they just use the number from TW... Only one they maintain their own number is on Formula, which they still list as 64.

[filphil]

Donnay has a NEW stamp for the area located on the throat with racket information. I've confirmed this with my local pro shop and have multiple rackets with the same stamping coming directly from Donnay.

Here is a picture of the new stamp:

[PGlock]

That is weird...because my X-Dual Gold has 55 +/-5 pounds printed on the throat. And, I totally do not understand plus or minus 10 pounds on the new stamp.

[RacquetDoctor]

Originally Posted by PGlock

That is weird...because my X-Dual Gold has 55 +/-5 pounds printed on the throat. And, I totally do not understand plus or minus 10 pounds on the new stamp.

I have 3 x-dual gold 94s...all have 50 +/- 10...

Mark

[nirianto]

Originally Posted by PGlock

That is weird...because my X-Dual Gold has 55 +/-5 pounds printed on the throat. And, I totally do not understand plus or minus 10 pounds on the new stamp.

My Gold 99 also has the new stamp which says 50 +/- 10, does this mean recommended tension is 40-60?

[filphil]

The new stamp is probably to accommodate poly string users who think that they cannot go below 50lbs because the stick says so. So the recommended tension can be considered 40-60, lower end for poly users, high end for multi/gut users.

What really bothers me about Donnay is that this was done without any prior notice so people panic when they see two similar rackets with different stamping and automatically think of a counterfit product.

[roundiesee]

Does anyone here in this thread use the x dark red 94? Someone was selling one locally here and I was wondering if it will be a good buy.

[t-swede]

anyone demoed the x-yellow ext or the x-white ext i really lke the longer rackets but i cant find any feedback on the forums about these sticks ?

cheers the swede

[Lambo]

the x series racqs were supposedly great especially the xred 94. I tried desperately to get one in 4 1/4 grip size but could never find one and donnay disc them. So got a platinum 94 nice racq.

[t-swede]

Originally Posted by t-swede

anyone demoed the x-yellow ext or the x-white ext i really lke the longer rackets but i cant find any feedback on the forums about these sticks ?

cheers the swede

come on guys ! no one demoed or bought the extended donnays , white and yellow ??

[filphil]

It may just be that no one currently viewing this thread have tried it. You should try posting a separate thread and see if you get any bites.

[OriginalHockeytowner]

Just a quick question regarding the racquet reviews in this thread:

Is the review of the X-Platinum 94 for the X-Dual Platinum or for

http://www.donnayusa.com/shop/product.php?id=69

that? I had never seen or heard of a standard X-Platinum before, and the site says it was unreleased!

[t-swede]

hello i would like to hear some feedback on the donnay line of extended frames like x-yellow 99 ext and the x-white 99 ext ??

the swede

[suppawat]

Originally Posted by t-swede

hello i would like to hear some feedback on the donnay line of extended frames like x-yellow 99 ext and the x-white 99 ext ??

the swede

I don't have direct experience with Donnay extended frames. From my observation, several junior users who play Silver Lite 27.5" finally end up cutting the length to standard 27". I guess extra length has big impact on racquet balance.

[Marcus2137]

I absolutely love my Donnay X-Red 94+'s. My other rackets haven't been out of the bag much, just some to compare. But I love the Donnays, and I love how easy they swing. My main X-Red94+ that I've been using is 375g (leathergrip, overgrip, lead in the head, dampener, head protection tape) and has a swingweight of 356, but it swings about like my prestige pros that have a 330-335 swingweight.

Also, my elbow is almost steel (Head Extreme MP with Kevlar mains/Poly crosses is no problem), but my wrist is a little sensitive from a previous injury and surgery about 12 years ago.

I have been having some discomfort with the wrist lately and have had to be careful to protect it. I've even had to skip a day or two of hitting last month because I didn't want to risk any further damage/discomfort.

I'm happy to report that the first day I used the Donnays, I had ZERO wrist discomfort after playing. Every time since then, I've paid attention to my wrist and it wasn't a one-time phenomenon; every time I play with the Donnays my wrist feels 100% OK after playing. And my string set up is identical to my previous main rackets.

[cluckcluck]

Originally Posted by roundiesee

Does anyone here in this thread use the x dark red 94? Someone was selling one locally here and I was wondering if it will be a good buy.

I've been playing the Dark Red for 1.5 years. I love it, like I really love it. It's really quite powerful, soft on the arm (good flex), and has great access to spin, it's a shame Donnay discontinued them.
The only thing I don't like about it, when you add weight to butt, the weights seem to be a tiny bit smaller than the opening, so it feels like it's rattling around in there.

I would absolutely recommend you grab those while you can.

[t-swede]

Originally Posted by suppawat

I don't have direct experience with Donnay extended frames. From my observation, several junior users who play Silver Lite 27.5" finally end up cutting the length to standard 27". I guess extra length has big impact on racquet balance.

suppawat thanks for the info . did they cut down the rackets because sw got to high or for other reasons ?

the swede