PV Audio's Playtest Thread

pepka

Professional
Silverstring/RIP. May be low powered but control should be wicked, same with tension stability ;)
 

mikeler

Moderator
If you are really getting desperate how about Big Ace Micro and Mantis Comfort. I'd really rather you try something that another user may benefit from since the chances of me using a poly again are slim.
 

pvaudio

Legend
Change of procedure. For me to play test it, I need at least two people to agree that they'd like it playtested. I have far too many strings and just not enough time to get through 11 pages of requests :(

As such, I'm going to stick with just the Typhoon/NRG setup. If there's a setup that people really want to see, then I'd be happy to string it up and report on it :)
 

g4driver

Legend
One down, what's next, gentlemen?


Thanks for doing the Typhoon/NGR 2 setup. Looking forward to reading your review.

Two more questions for you if you have some a moment of free time.

1) What are your thoughts on a comparison of Mantis Comfort versus NRG2?

A reel of Mantis is about 1/2 the price of NRG2.

2) Would Tornado by the best black poly for friends who think they want to try to "RPM Blast"? I have had several friends ask me to string their frames with RPM Blast. I try to talk them out of it due it price first of all, and more importantly it seems plenty of people think Tornado or MSV Hex hits better.

Thanks again for your time. Truly appreciate your efforts and yes this is a 5 Star Thread!
 

pvaudio

Legend
Genesis Typhoon 16L / Technifibre NRG2 1.18

Stringing: This is an interesting one. Even in the mains, Typhoon is a monster to string. It absolutely hates being handled. IMO, of all of the highly textured, shaped and extruded strings that I've strung up, Typhoon is the most annoying. It was just going in the mains, and it was still trying to kink up on me. That said, it didn't really seem to be an issue once tensioned, so we'll see how it goes. I've already talked about NRG2's ease of stringing, and it was the same here. Nothing to talk about. Tension: 55/57, knot setting on cross tie-offs.

Playability: To come!

Durability: To come!

Overall: To come!

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pvaudio

Legend
Thanks for doing the Typhoon/NGR 2 setup. Looking forward to reading your review.

Two more questions for you if you have some a moment of free time.

1) What are your thoughts on a comparison of Mantis Comfort versus NRG2?

A reel of Mantis is about 1/2 the price of NRG2.

2) Would Tornado by the best black poly for friends who think they want to try to "RPM Blast"? I have had several friends ask me to string their frames with RPM Blast. I try to talk them out of it due it price first of all, and more importantly it seems plenty of people think Tornado or MSV Hex hits better.

Thanks again for your time. Truly appreciate your efforts and yes this is a 5 Star Thread!
For your first comment, MCS and NRG2 can't even be compared. They only thing they share is multifilament construction. They play absolutely nothing alike and are for completely different types of players. MCS is likely the least powerful multi on the market while NRG2 is likely the most powerful. MCS feels like gut, NRG2 is scalpel edge sharp and crisp. They can't be compared. You would use one or the other to accentuate or damp the characteristics of a particular main. If used in the mains, then that's another story altogether. :)

Curiously, I have reels of all three: RPM Blast 16, MSV Hex 1.10 and Tornado 1.23. People ask for RPM because it's popular and well known, and I give an offer whereby after they're done with the setup, I'll put in a string either free of charge, or in the case of Tornado, half off. This way, they can see that cheaper strings exist which play far better for far longer.

As far as Tornado actually being better, it's not really my cup of tea anyway. I wish I could tell you that it's a super shaped poly, but in all honesty, it's just a nice feeling poly which generates good spin. I still prefer the Scorpion setup over it by an enormous margin. I would also look at Volkl Cyclone 17 and the Cyber Twirl that I playtested if you want great value textured or shaped polys. :)
 

g4driver

Legend
pvaudio,

If MCS has the feel of gut, but not the power, are you using it to get more feel out a powerful poly/MCS hybrid? Trying to tone down the power when using with a powerful poly?
 

mikeler

Moderator
PV,

If a full bed of MCS feels good to me at 60 pounds, do you have a recommendation for tension when I test out NRG2?

That TW blind playtest multi had less power than MCS for me.
 

pepka

Professional
The thing with NRG2 is that it's a lot crispier and more powerful than MCS. If You string it too high, it may be not as soft as you like... when strung too low, it may become a rocket launcher in your hand ;). Still i like nrg2 way more than x1. It will make a great cross for soft, low power poly, just like MCS for crispier, powerful one :)
 

pvaudio

Legend
PV,

If a full bed of MCS feels good to me at 60 pounds, do you have a recommendation for tension when I test out NRG2?

That TW blind playtest multi had less power than MCS for me.
I would string the NRG at 62 or 63. Anything above that and it seems to be a waste since it breaks so quickly.
The thing with NRG2 is that it's a lot crispier and more powerful than MCS. If You string it too high, it may be not as soft as you like... when strung too low, it may become a rocket launcher in your hand ;). Still i like nrg2 way more than x1. It will make a great cross for soft, low power poly, just like MCS for crispier, powerful one :)
Couldn't have said it better myself :)
 

g4driver

Legend
pvaudio,

Have you ever hit with Signum Pro Plasma HEXtreme16L (1.25mm)?

I"m trying to find another soft co-poly that has offers spin over power, and want to try it with NRG2 and SNGPS.
 
awww guess i missed the next round of strings :( but can you do weisscannon scorpion and mantis comfort synthetic? im really interested in the mantis comfort and want to find the best poly to cross with it that gives good power and touch
 

g4driver

Legend
awww guess i missed the next round of strings :( but can you do weisscannon scorpion and mantis comfort synthetic? im really interested in the mantis comfort and want to find the best poly to cross with it that gives good power and touch

He posted this setup on page 8. Post #144.


WC Scorpion / MCS: Along the same line as the review above, this setup feels nearly identical to the natural gut version, albeit with less power. Unfortunately for it, it just doesn't give enough pop when compared to the gut. So I really can't rate it as highly as the natural gut variant hybrid. Overall: 9/10

WC Scorpion / WhisperTouch: This is interesting because I played this same setup on a 3/8 grip and a 1/2 grip. On the 3/8 grip, the racquet tended to spin around in my hand which honestly was to be expected since I'm not used to playing with the smaller grip. Even then, it was head and shoulders above the hexablade setup. I think it's going to take me some time to find a setup that I like better than this even though the gut isn't going to last much longer. I ended up playing most of today with the 1/2 grip after having used the 3/8 grip all of yesterday, and it's glorious. Serves, groundstrokes, and volleys most of all are just fantastic. Overall, I'll increase its rating for its consistency: 9.5/10
 

pvaudio

Legend
pvaudio,

Have you ever hit with Signum Pro Plasma HEXtreme16L (1.25mm)?

I"m trying to find another soft co-poly that has offers spin over power, and want to try it with NRG2 and SNGPS.
Someone didn't look at the list of strings that I own :)

Yes I have hit with SPPHEX; I own a reel of it. What would you like to know?
 

g4driver

Legend
Someone didn't look at the list of strings that I own :)

Yes I have hit with SPPHEX; I own a reel of it. What would you like to know?

I knew you had it in your list of strings, just wasn't sure if you had hit with it. I own several strings I've never hit. Mostly strings that people have requested for their frames.

1) What is SPPHEX like in terms of spin generation compared to WC Scorpion?

2) How would you compare it in terms of softness/stiffness compared to other polys?

3) Is it a lowered powered poly?

Thanks again.
 

pvaudio

Legend
1. It's better than Scorpion...initially. The ridges on the HEX wear off very quickly so you're left with just SPPP which doesn't excel in spin.

2. It's almost exactly in the middle. Seriously, you wouldn't pick it up and say geez, this is soft or stiff. It's average.

3. Yep, HEX and its smooth variant SPPP are lower power poly strings. You bring the heat :)
 

mctennis

Legend
I've noticed with most of the ridged strings they seem to wear off pretty fast then you are left with some sort of regular string that does spin as well. I've stopped using all those strings. Just my 2 cents worth on ridged strings ( worth a lot less than 2 cents).
 

airman88

Semi-Pro
Idk if you do full bed poly at all. But would you be interesting in trying out black magic mains and typhoon gray crosses (do you have the gray)? I love my typhoon gray full bed, but I am having a little arm trouble above the elbow. But I also don't like dropping the tension. I think black magic/typhoon gray will be a great combo of feel, power, ball pocketing, and ball bite/spin and be fairly soft in a full bed setup. I'd be interested to see what you thought if you have an extra racket to fill up any time soon.
 

MarrratSafin

Hall of Fame
1. It's better than Scorpion...initially. The ridges on the HEX wear off very quickly so you're left with just SPPP which doesn't excel in spin.

2. It's almost exactly in the middle. Seriously, you wouldn't pick it up and say geez, this is soft or stiff. It's average.

3. Yep, HEX and its smooth variant SPPP are lower power poly strings. You bring the heat :)

Good stuff, spot on! I've found strings like RPM Blast and Blue Gear to wear off ridges much faster than Hextreme though, Hextreme's isn't that bad compared to those.:lol:
 

g4driver

Legend
Thanks for the comments on SPPHEX.

Have you done a WC Scorpion / WC Explosive, or Scorpion/NRG2 setup before?

I looked through this thread, but didn't find it.
 
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pvaudio

Legend
Well, the gut finally broke on me:

img1346b.jpg


img1349f.jpg


img1350ac.jpg


In the end:

WeissCANNON Scorpion 1.22 / PerforMAXX WhisperTouch 17L Natural Gut

Power: 8.5/10

Control: 9/10

Feel: 9.5/10

Spin: 8.75/10

Durability: 8/10

Tension Maintenance:
9.75/10

Total: 53.5/60

Final Total: 89/100

This one will certainly be hard to beat. The poly had long gone dead, but yet the gut just did its job and kept the feel to the point that it played like a low-feel poly setup. I honestly cannot see myself finding a better setup. :)
 
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pvaudio

Legend
UPDATE!!:Genesis Typhoon 16L / Technifibre NRG2 1.18

Stringing: This is an interesting one. Even in the mains, Typhoon is a monster to string. It absolutely hates being handled. IMO, of all of the highly textured, shaped and extruded strings that I've strung up, Typhoon is the most annoying. It was just going in the mains, and it was still trying to kink up on me. That said, it didn't really seem to be an issue once tensioned, so we'll see how it goes. I've already talked about NRG2's ease of stringing, and it was the same here. Nothing to talk about. Tension: 55/57, knot setting on cross tie-offs.

Playability: This is an interesting one. I strung this setup lower than any other stringjob that I've ever played with in my entire life. I have never strung NRG2 below 60lbs, ever. I only did so here because I didn't want a huge discrepancy between my Typhoon tension and the cross tension. With that said, after an hour of hitting, this is a letdown. It just doesn't have enough power. Those are words I never thought that I'd ever say. You have to work extremely hard to get the ball over the net, let alone past the service line. The actual feel of the ball is excellent though: super crisp with a nice THUNK sound. The feel leaves something to be desired, however. At the net, it just feels dead. You can't really gauge your touch shots well and modulating the amount of power vs. spin on a shot is even harder since there's no power to work with. The spin is...adequate. If you know how to make spin, then this will be fine for you. Otherwise, I have to be honest: this isn't a setup that I'll be using in the future.

Durability:
Minimal fraying of the NRG. Perhaps once the NRG loosens up the pop will come back to the stringbed. Who knows. I don't really care since it was such a let down.

Overall: 8/10

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img0234xi.jpg
 

pvaudio

Legend
Based on my new criteria and the two above posts, the next main string to be tested is Genesis SpinX. I just need a cross, and consider it strung. :)
 
PV, you should give WC's Black5Edge a try. I'm really excited to string mine up probably sometime next month. Based on the reviews, it just might be able to surpass Scorpion. I'm looking forward to your thoughts as well as mine :)
 

rudester

Professional
Re: Typhoon/ NRG2
Both of these are favorite strings, however like you, I have tried Typhoon in a hybrid with NRG2, and with 5 or six other multifibres, and IMHO, Typhoon is best in a full bed so i have given up trying to hybrid it, it is plenty soft and plays best when strung at normal tension.
 

pvaudio

Legend
Having thought about it today, I think that this typhoon setup might work even at a lower tension, say 52lbs? Plus, I think a more powerful cross would work better, so after I play tomorrow and if it turns out not to be spectacular, I think I'll put some PerforMAXX in as the cross instead.

Moreover, I just now realized that having broken two of my playtest frames' strings, I only have this one to last me through a 3 setter tomorrow.Let's just hope that I don't need to go back to the 3/8 racquet. :)
 

pepka

Professional
^^ Comfort;) power is something You can get on Your own... comfort is not ;)
 
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Torres

Banned
Which one's it gonna be! :)

Can you try one of the lower power 'feel' type multis in the mains, and what you consider to be one of the more comfortable polys in the mains, both at say around 50lbs and comment on spin, feel, control and power?

Maybe something like Mantis Comfort and Black Code?
 

pvaudio

Legend
Stringing: This is an interesting one. Even in the mains, Typhoon is a monster to string. It absolutely hates being handled. IMO, of all of the highly textured, shaped and extruded strings that I've strung up, Typhoon is the most annoying. It was just going in the mains, and it was still trying to kink up on me. That said, it didn't really seem to be an issue once tensioned, so we'll see how it goes. I've already talked about NRG2's ease of stringing, and it was the same here. Nothing to talk about. Tension: 55/57, knot setting on cross tie-offs.

Playability: This is an interesting one. I strung this setup lower than any other stringjob that I've ever played with in my entire life. I have never strung NRG2 below 60lbs, ever. I only did so here because I didn't want a huge discrepancy between my Typhoon tension and the cross tension. With that said, after an hour of hitting, this is a letdown. It just doesn't have enough power. Those are words I never thought that I'd ever say. You have to work extremely hard to get the ball over the net, let alone past the service line. The actual feel of the ball is excellent though: super crisp with a nice THUNK sound. The feel leaves something to be desired, however. At the net, it just feels dead. You can't really gauge your touch shots well and modulating the amount of power vs. spin on a shot is even harder since there's no power to work with. The spin is...adequate. If you know how to make spin, then this will be fine for you. Otherwise, I have to be honest: this isn't a setup that I'll be using in the future.

Durability:
Minimal fraying of the NRG. Perhaps once the NRG loosens up the pop will come back to the stringbed. Who knows. I don't really care since it was such a let down.

Overall: 8/10

img0232cr.jpg


img0234xi.jpg

I played with this for 2.5 hours today and have made my verdict. I'm sorry, but this setup is just garbage. It has no power, no real spin, no feel, and plays like a board. I would have assumed I strung it at 65lbs. That's how dead it feels. Without question, the worst setup yet. I resorted to using my 4 3/8 racquet with scorpion/whispertouch because the typhoon hybrid was so atrocious. Would not recommend, and definitely not in a stiffer frame. I shall be cutting this out tomorrow.

In the end:

Genesis Typhoon 16L / Technifibre NRG2 1.18

Power: 6/10

Control: 7/10

Feel: 5/10

Spin: 7.5/10

Durability:
8/10

Tension Maintenance: 9/10

Total: 42.5/60

Final Total: 71/100
 
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bad_call

Legend
^^ pvaudio - reads like we have similar string tastes...probably posted that before but have to chuckle when i read your reviews. :)
 
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