After awhile most players realise strings are really just strings. All the strings you reviewed have plus and minus. Too bad you didnt like the ltec. Many do regardless of the marketing. And the string is 20 bucks for most sets. Not going to break the bank.
The biggest plus of the ltec is the consistency of them till they break. And as far as i know noone here has actually played a set till 30 hours.
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QUOTE=pvaudio;6388897]
L-Tec Premium Pro / L-Tec Premium 5S
First and foremost: thank you again to jdunnie014159 for supplying all four L-Tec half sets
Note: "Cliff notes" of this very long review are posted right at the bottom.
Stringing: Here are the strings in question:
Mains:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/L-T...27_String_Beige/descpageACGLORY-LTPPOS16.html
Crosses (in black which TW does not carry):
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/L-Tec_Premium_5S_16L_125_String/descpageACGLORY-LTP5S16.html
Now, normally, this section is the most boring part of the review. However, I think that this time it will be the most important part because there are a few issues I want to address. First, the poly handles like any other mid-grade poly when stringing. No coil-memory, no friction, knots easily, etc. No problems there.
The key here, as you can imagine, is the JET method. I'm actually looking at the instructions right now, and here's what I can tell you:
I did NOT use the JET or JayCee or any other stringing method that I do not normally do. This is very important for a few reasons:
1. This is a string review thread. I am not here to review stringing methods. If I want to test the JET method on a string I'm already familiar with, I will do so later. At the moment, I am reviewing L-Tec polyester strings.
2. As hinted at above, as I'm scientific with most things, I will not change more than one variable at a time. Here, the variable is the string.
3. I do not buy into string hype for a multitude of reasons, but in this case, the main issue is arrogance...and not on my part. They insinuate, and I do mean that word, that it takes a select group of stringers to be able to install these strings. That means that no one from **** or Priority 1 is qualified to string L-Tec polyester. That's preposterous, and as said, arrogant. I already string everything at the slowest pull speed, use low tension for polyester and let it settle before clamping. Have been doing that for quite some time for myself and every customer in fact. I've never had anyone dissatisfied with the quality of my stringing.
4. So, to L-Tec if you're reading this: you can hold off on saying my results are invalid because I did not use JET. If anything, all opinions of your strings using a specific method cannot be taken at face value unless the string is evaluated first when strung normally.
Now, onto a bit nicer tone: I chose this hybrid because it was part of the string set given to me and because it was recommended.
I think that's all I have to say about the stringing, but here's cliff notes: this is an objective STRING review. No special stringing methods were used as I have not tried the method previously to see if it favorably changes stringbeds I am already familiar with.
Tension: 45/45 lbs
I am approaching this review as though they were given to me blind and unmarked.
Groundstrokes: Overall, not bad off the ground. As I hinted at before, this plays like MSV CoFocus. So while it's not bad, it's not brilliant. There isn't an obscene amount of spin as was suggested, nor is there lots of power, extra control or super par comfort. It just feels like a mid-range poly.
Overall: 8.5/10
Serves: Pretty weak here. There wasn't much action being generated on my serves, so the spin carries over from the groundstrokes: not more than expected. Power was mid-range, accuracy was the same. Generic-ly good.
Overall: 8.25/10
Volleys: Slightly above average feel for a poly, but truth be told, it was just a poly at the net.
Overall: 8/10
Durability: Two definitions of durability here: tension stability, and breakage resistance. There was no noticable tension drop, and I didn't break the strings. So, I can't rate them on either merit, but there isn't any notching either. That also is not odd, so I'll give it my normal poly durability rating in that stead.
Overall: 9/10
These strings were really just...strings. There was no wow factor. WC Scorpion wow you with its dwell time and control. Signum Pro Poly Plasma wows you with its tension maintenance. Genesis Black Magic wows you with its comfort. This poly hybrid really didn't so anything exceptionally well, but it didn't do anything poorly. Again, this is like a slightly harder stringing MSV CoFocus: everything you
need from a poly. Nothing you don't need, and nothing extra that you might want.
Overall: 8.75/10
Now, I reviewed the string in this way because it's only fair since I did not in fact pay for them. I evaluated them as poly strings, and was not looking to find that they were exceptional. In fact, I was going to be surprised if they were something special because I never believed any of the L-Tec claims. So, with all of that out of the way,
let me state it like this: L-Tec polyester is the biggest rip-off on the market. It's based around clever marketing, a zero-loss game comprised of infinite exit strategies ("didn't use JET", "wrong hybrid", "wrong tension", etc.) and most of all, premium pricing to make you assume greatness. There is none here. This is just regular run-of-the-mill polyester.
While the string
may play like it is now for 30 hours, I simply do not care. Why? Two reasons of which the first is obvious: the playability is not high, so it's pointless to use. Secondly, I would break the string before then. So, if they indeed claim that their strings are so resistant to breakage that a futures level player can hit with them for 30 hours without popping, they can claim that. I don't care. I wish I could say that I was disappointed, but I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary to begin with. As Torres has said multiple times, polyester simply has intrinsic properties which unless there is something supremely novel going on, you cannot get around. It will not hold tension for 30 hours of hard hitting. It will not remain intact for 30 hours of hard hitting.
There are what I like to call "pick 2 of 3" situations for just about everything. As an example: a car can be high performance, reliable and inexpensive. The car that's high performance and reliable will NOT be inexpensive (i.e. Ferrari). The high performance car that's cheap will not be reliable (i.e. 300HP Honda Civic that a 17yr old drives to high school). The reliable and inexpensive car will not be performance based (i.e. the aforementioned Honda Civic before it was modified). L-Tec wants to give you "pick x" situations. They claim spin, power, control, feel, tension hold and comfort are all superior. It's because of this that the price is seen in a different light as being a good value (you get more hours of supreme playing than any other string). Unfortunately, only the last one there, the cost, is truthful. This stuff is outperformed by poly costing literally fractions of the price.
For whatever my word is worth:
I do not recommend that anyone waste their money on trying for themselves. They are just ordinary strings backed by extraordinary hyperbole and hubris.
True Overall: 5.75/10
CLIFF NOTES: Do not waste your time and money.[/QUOTE]