Upgrade with wise 2086 or new machine?

I have an alpha revo 4000 crank machine and am wanting to go electric. Would u be better spending the $750 on the wise or just jumping to a new (I would likely get something used) machine? Thoughts?
 

happyandbob

Legend
I don’t have any experience with a purpose built electronic stringer, but I’m super happy with my Revo + Wise setup. I’m only stringing for family and friends (about 5 frames a week).

I kinda wish they had gravity drop clamps so have toyed with the idea of upgrading the clamp bases, but not making a move on that right now.
 

struggle

Legend
It’s your best bet money wise, I’d think. I’ve been happy with my WISE.

The Revo is a solid enough base. If you ever need the wise serviced (I haven’t yet) you’ll still be able to string with the LO.
 

lyonheart14

New User
I have a Revo 4000 and upgraded with a Wise when I started stringing more as a side-gig. I did upgrade to a Baiardo after about a year, but that was partially because I started stringing more for the local University and if I wanted to take racquets home, I needed the same machine they had. I have taken the Revo plus Wise on the road with me since then though, and it's my backup machine. If I did it all again, I would probably look at the Tourna Ennox.

With either upgrade though, it's hard to beat the better clamps I got with a premium machine.
 
I don’t have any experience with a purpose built electronic stringer, but I’m super happy with my Revo + Wise setup. I’m only stringing for family and friends (about 5 frames a week).

I kinda wish they had gravity drop clamps so have toyed with the idea of upgrading the clamp bases, but not making a move on that right now.
What clamp bases would you upgrade to?
 
I have a Revo 4000 and upgraded with a Wise when I started stringing more as a side-gig. I did upgrade to a Baiardo after about a year, but that was partially because I started stringing more for the local University and if I wanted to take racquets home, I needed the same machine they had. I have taken the Revo plus Wise on the road with me since then though, and it's my backup machine. If I did it all again, I would probably look at the Tourna Ennox.

With either upgrade though, it's hard to beat the better clamps I got with a premium machine.
Why do you like the ennox? It's about $400 more I believe.
 

Dags

Hall of Fame
I have a crank with a Wise, and have pondered the upgrade to a premium machine on multiple occasions. My main consideration past the obvious has been size and portability of the machine. I live in a one-bed flat (that probably translates to a 'small apartment' in American), and do not have a dedicated space for stringing. My machine is stored in the corner of the room, and I pick it up and move it to the centre each time I string. The carpet isn't particularly conducive to casters, so something that's a sensible size when sat in the corner and that I can move alone is my requirement, and the reason I will unlikely be buying a premium machine whilst I live here.

Overall the Wise has been great. No regrets in buying it, and zero technical issues. I'd have to check my records, but I've had it since either 2009 or 2010, so a while. If I needed to replace it, the sensible thing would probably be to buy another one, but I'm very curious about the Ennox. The biggest negative of my Wise is how loud it is; I'm not sure whether that has been addressed at all in other models. Other things I'd quite like are glide to activate and a proper knot button (again a reminder that my Wise is vintage and doesn't have some of the latest advancements... I haven't read up on exactly what you get with a new Wise now).

Other upgrades I've made:

- side supports. I had K supports, and switching them to C / V is a fairly inexpensive improvement.
- string clamps. I've done this twice now, with the latest iteration being as recent as last week. At some point I might create a thread comparing my various clamps: I think it's one of those areas where you don't really appreciate the difference in quality until you experience it.
- raising the turntable. I lost 360 rotation with the Wise, lived with it for over a decade, then discovered someone at work had a 3D printer. I spend a couple of hours making measurements and creating a file, then asked him to print it and bought some longer screws.

The one remaining upgrade I have considered but never followed through on are the base clamps. This is partly because I think what I have are decent, partly because it's harder to get the information of what would be compatible. You either need something that will fit on your existing rails (with maybe an alteration such as a shim to get the distance right), or find clamps and rails as a set where the rails will fit on your turntable.

Overall, would I prefer to string on a high end machine? Most likely. Is it the best fit for my current situation? Not really. With the upgrades I've made, I do think my machine is significantly higher quality than the original I bought, and it's enough for me at present.
 

ryohazuki222

Hall of Fame
As someone who owned a revo, now owns a wise, and has strung on many of the high end machines out there, I’ll offer you a set of questions to help guide your decision. (Intentionally prioritized.)

1/ how much do you want or not want a standing machine? Asked a different way, how much do you value portability?

Unless your answer to this is “I don’t care either way”, you kind of have your obvious next step.

2/ what do you dislike most about your revo?

This will help guide you on whether or not you’ll be able to buy your way into something better.

3/ what’s you budget range?
 
If the rest of your original machine is still solid, nothing's loose or janky, go with the a Wise upgrade. It'll be a nice and inexpensive way to get into the electric world.

But if the rest of your original machine is falling apart, I'd just get a whole new electric machine. I've been frankensteining and refurbishing my nearly 20 years old Eagnas machine and I'm tired of it. (Even though I have a Wise on it, the rest of it is just too old and janky.)
 

Wes

Hall of Fame
If the rest of your original machine is still solid, nothing's loose or janky, go with the a Wise upgrade. It'll be a nice and inexpensive way to get into the electric world.

But if the rest of your original machine is falling apart, I'd just get a whole new electric machine. I've been frankensteining and refurbishing my nearly 20 years old Eagnas machine and I'm tired of it. (Even though I have a Wise on it, the rest of it is just too old and janky.)

Eagnas should consider just renaming the brand "Old & Janky". :-D

It's got a nice ring to it.

Kind of like "Sears & Roebuck"... "Bartles & Jaymes" etc. :p


"Dude, I just scored a screamin' good deal on a barely used Old & Janky Flex 940 on Craigslist!"
 

graycrait

Legend
Buying Eagnas reminds me of what one of my young friends told me about buying a boat: "don't buy some '70's or '80s fiberglass boat." If I were going to buy a machine today knowing what I do now, I would just save up and get an Alpha Ghost or a Bairdo. If tennis is your hobby 4+ grand isn't so much and it is way cheaper than entry level into some other hobbies like cycling, fishing, Benchrest shooting, off roading, etc.
 
You guys do realize 10+ years ago, a full fledged crank with 6 points mount Eagnas and a standing mount could be had for $500 brand new, right?

And they're no different than any other entry level Tournas or Alpha's crank machine.

You don't get to complain about it being old and janky 10+ years later when you got it for $500. Also, not relevant to OP's question.
 
Last edited:

Dags

Hall of Fame
You guys do realize 10+ years ago, a full fledged crank with 6 points mount Eagnas and a standing mount could be had for $500 brand new, right?

And they're no different than any other entry level Tournas or Alpha's crank machine.
I've got a slightly different opinion on this. I did get my RAB 16 years ago for £5-600. The closest US equivalent at the time was Alpha. The Pros Pro machines started popping up maybe 5 years later, and people equated those to Eagnas. The RAB and Pros Pro were clearly from the same factory, but the difference in build quality was really quite stark. My turntable rotates smoothly, there's no wobble, the whole thing feels well constructed. Solid, if you will. I've helped a number of people with Pros Pro machines, and quality control on them is not good. Everything about them feels cheaper, from the construction all the way down to the paint. Then there are also the clamps, though that's less of an issue in this context as those can be replaced.

There may be confirmation bias at play - my only direct experience with Pros Pro is when people have problems and have asked for help - but I've seen enough to never recommend them. I'm fairly sure they have much looser tolerances than other brands to keep costs down, and they're a lesser machine in my eyes.

I do agree that if a $500 machine lasts you 10+ years then that's a pretty decent return on investment! My Wise cost me something like £550, and I've certainly had my money's worth out of that too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wes

Wes

Hall of Fame
I've got a slightly different opinion on this. I did get my RAB 16 years ago for £5-600. The closest US equivalent at the time was Alpha. The Pros Pro machines started popping up maybe 5 years later, and people equated those to Eagnas. The RAB and Pros Pro were clearly from the same factory, but the difference in build quality was really quite stark. My turntable rotates smoothly, there's no wobble, the whole thing feels well constructed. Solid, if you will. I've helped a number of people with Pros Pro machines, and quality control on them is not good. Everything about them feels cheaper, from the construction all the way down to the paint. Then there are also the clamps, though that's less of an issue in this context as those can be replaced.

There may be confirmation bias at play - my only direct experience with Pros Pro is when people have problems and have asked for help - but I've seen enough to never recommend them. I'm fairly sure they have much looser tolerances than other brands to keep costs down, and they're a lesser machine in my eyes.

I do agree that if a $500 machine lasts you 10+ years then that's a pretty decent return on investment! My Wise cost me something like £550, and I've certainly had my money's worth out of that too.

Excellent post @Dags (as per usual).

Couldn't have expressed my sentiments any better. It's often difficult to convey tolerances/QC/build quality to the uninitiated - because they are only going by what they can see.
 

struggle

Legend
I had an Eagnas Combo 910, one of their better offerings.

It worked fine.

My Now older Gamma 6004 was a nice upgrade, however (with a Wise it’s all I need…)
 

lyonheart14

New User
Why do you like the ennox? It's about $400 more I believe.
Linear gripper, dedicated knot tension button, display.

The latest Wise firmware does repurpose one of the buttons (I think 'pause') to use for Knot Tension. Seems like there's also some reports of upgrading the linear gripper with an aftermarket part as well. So, in the end you can theoretically have something similar either way.

All that said, I haven't used the Ennox, and the Wise was fine to me.
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
I have the revo, wise, and upgraded gravity clamps. My son strings for the local club on a babolat star 5. He likes our setup more. His only complaint is the wise diabolo doesn't taper as much as the babolat, so the string slips off of the diabolo more easily on the wise.
 

hadoken

Professional
Overall the Wise has been great. No regrets in buying it, and zero technical issues. I'd have to check my records, but I've had it since either 2009 or 2010, so a while. If I needed to replace it, the sensible thing would probably be to buy another one, but I'm very curious about the Ennox.

I'm the exact opposite here. I bought a used NEOS that came with a Wise (~2010 vintage with low miles) and it broke. Wise says it was too old to fix so its basically a paperweight. For a casual stringer, I can't justify dropping $800 on a nice to have vs the NEOS crank that will never break over it's life so I am looking into the Pros Pro e-tensioner at about $500. I think that's a better value to tack on to a REVO...otherwise sell it and get a Ghost or something similar.
 

ryohazuki222

Hall of Fame
I'm the exact opposite here. I bought a used NEOS that came with a Wise (~2010 vintage with low miles) and it broke. Wise says it was too old to fix so it’s basically a paperweight. For a casual stringer, I can't justify dropping $800 on a nice to have vs the NEOS crank that will never break over it's life so I am looking into the Pros Pro e-tensioner at about $500. I think that's a better value to tack on to a REVO...otherwise sell it and get a Ghost or something similar.
This is why I was so hesitant to buy one. Agree that it makes no sense logically. Yet finally I just did it after thinking about it for over 15 years…

Hope it doesn’t break!
 

diredesire

Moderator
- side supports. I had K supports, and switching them to C / V is a fairly inexpensive improvement.
- string clamps. I've done this twice now, with the latest iteration being as recent as last week. At some point I might create a thread comparing my various clamps: I think it's one of those areas where you don't really appreciate the difference in quality until you experience it.
- raising the turntable. I lost 360 rotation with the Wise, lived with it for over a decade, then discovered someone at work had a 3D printer. I spend a couple of hours making measurements and creating a file, then asked him to print it and bought some longer screws.

The one remaining upgrade I have considered but never followed through on are the base clamps. This is partly because I think what I have are decent, partly because it's harder to get the information of what would be compatible. You either need something that will fit on your existing rails (with maybe an alteration such as a shim to get the distance right), or find clamps and rails as a set where the rails will fit on your turntable.

Overall, would I prefer to string on a high end machine? Most likely. Is it the best fit for my current situation? Not really. With the upgrades I've made, I do think my machine is significantly higher quality than the original I bought, and it's enough for me at present.
Yo! Post up your STL and a list of hardware! I'm sure someone else would like that info.

I'm the exact opposite here. I bought a used NEOS that came with a Wise (~2010 vintage with low miles) and it broke. Wise says it was too old to fix so its basically a paperweight. For a casual stringer, I can't justify dropping $800 on a nice to have vs the NEOS crank that will never break over it's life so I am looking into the Pros Pro e-tensioner at about $500. I think that's a better value to tack on to a REVO...otherwise sell it and get a Ghost or something similar.
Sent a PM
 

Dags

Hall of Fame
Yo! Post up your STL and a list of hardware! I'm sure someone else would like that info.
I posted about raising the turntable in another thread, which had a few other options:


I have also made posts about the first set of side supports I bought, and the first replacement string clamps. I need to spend more time with my newest clamps and also dig out the originals, as I think a comparison could be of interest. That post might well start out with 'It was all diredesire's fault...' as the latest purchase was almost an impulse buy after reading your machine review. I'd previously told myself that I wouldn't make any more upgrades and the next purchase would be a premium machine, but your description of your clamps and the weight of your machine changed my mind in the short term. Initial impression: you're right, the clamps are very nice.
 
I posted about raising the turntable in another thread, which had a few other options:


I have also made posts about the first set of side supports I bought, and the first replacement string clamps. I need to spend more time with my newest clamps and also dig out the originals, as I think a comparison could be of interest. That post might well start out with 'It was all diredesire's fault...' as the latest purchase was almost an impulse buy after reading your machine review. I'd previously told myself that I wouldn't make any more upgrades and the next purchase would be a premium machine, but your description of your clamps and the weight of your machine changed my mind in the short term. Initial impression: you're right, the clamps are very nice.
Would you mind sharing the post about the clamps? Let's spend some more of my money...
What side supports did you get? The newer ones from new tech?
 

Dags

Hall of Fame
My previous clamps thread:


The newest ones are basically the same as the ones DD has with his machine, though the posts fit inside my base clamps rather than being a sleeve as you see in his photos:


There was nothing really wrong with my previous ones, I was just curious how the next level up compared.

For side supports, yes, they're the same ones as on the New Tech website. Side supports are a subtle upgrade in that they make string management around that area better, so you don't really notice them.
 
Top