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Acuda S1 Vs Vega Pro Petermoo compares |
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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Posted: 07/03/2010 at 12:51am |
Whoops!
sorry about thar Anton! No disrespect. I had a lot of fun testing this rubber which has a lot of gears and is fun to play with. Thanks for sending me the test sheet! I am going to be practicing with it for a while! Petermoo |
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Anton Chigurh
Premier Member Joined: 09/15/2009 Status: Offline Points: 3962 |
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I see... So you're implying that I can't hit hard nor generate much spin, huh? Well, sheesh... Thanks a lot!
Actually, I feel that hitting hard is about all that I can do well, but I'm sure what I call "hard" at my level might not receive the same estimation at yours. I'm glad you at least found some similarities so that I don't feel totally off the mark. I figured someone such as yourself could better discern the differences between the rubbers. Thanks for taking the time to do so. |
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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I did that one recently..... Petermoo
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jmaster
Member Joined: 01/19/2008 Location: Moon Status: Offline Points: 47 |
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Pertermoo , please make review abou Coppa X1 turbo..
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FH :Rakza 7 BH : Donic Barracuda Blade : Avalox P700 |
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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Day 2: Vega Pro
So today its the black beast. From yesterday I noted that the sponge was somewhat different in structure to the Acuda sponge and now I can tell you that it feels a bit lighter on my bat with the overall weight reduction being quite noticable especially on my big swings. These rubbers are very very similar for the basic strokes block roll push etc. Very nice controlled feel throughout. I found one weak point in that the rubber like most tensors has some stalling issues with fine touch blocking produces a few stalling points when performing side blocks against heavy spinning loops. To me, the Vega Pro is like a milder Acuda X1 similar in every respect except it just doesnt have the top end of the Acuda X1. Soft loops were the same but hard loops were significantly different. The Vega does not produce as distinct an arc as Acuda, nor does it produce as much power. Its like a lite version of the same rubber. When my opponent backed off from the table I could not penetrate at all, I found myself spinning and spinning and working very very hard (exactly why I do not like the tenergy's) to win points that I would have finished off with Butterfly Bryce or even more so with Coppa Speed. At very high speeds I found the Vega Pro would occasionally bottom out. The Vega Pro produces a louder sound than Acuda a bit like those Joola rubbers (all sound no speed) a high pitched almost like glue sound that only flattered to deceive. Blocking was easy and comfortable if anything more predictable than Acuda because of the lower rebound factor of Vega Pro. Serves were really good. I could control the length very well and still produce enough spin to directly win points. I'm still biased to Coppa Speed although I think I served better with Vega Pro than Acuda. So the verdict for now is that I can fully understand why people would think these rubbers are clones. They are very similar at lower speeds. Only at high speeds and in the power aspects could I definitely see the difference. The biggest contrast was in power driving at middle distance where the Acuda produces excellent arcing shots and the Vega occasionally stalls out. I believe that if you are just playing a medium speed game with medium speed and spin then there is absolutely no or very little difference between these two rubbers its only at higher speeds that the difference shines through. Petermoo |
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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Round 1: AcudaS1
I played a couple of games with Acuda today. I found the rubber very very easy to loop with. It feels slightly harder than Platin X1 and as hard as Coppa Speed, the throw is certainly higher than both and it produces a nice predictable arc and pretty spinny loops. Acuda is slower than both rubbers but certainly faster than say JO Gold and the Tenergys 05,64,25. (This is in direct contrast to a colleague who said this rubber had significantly less spin and speed than T05). The feeling of the rubber is a bit hard but it has a nice dwell and rich sound which replicates the speed glue effect quite well. its fast enough with plenty control, control which is achieved by the pronounced arc and predictable topspin. The speed of this rubber was pretty decent although I still put it a tad slower than the brutal speed of Coppa Speed. It produced better third ball drives than Platin X1 but not as good as CS. Counter loops were controllable but not as penetrating as Coppa Speed. My practice partner was able to engage me in longer fishing rallies than he could if I were using Coppa Speed, The put away drive was certainly more difficult. Additionally my partner told me that it was easier to block my loops than when I was using Coppa Speed. From my end of the table , I did notice that I won less points on service than I usually do as well as less points from my opponent blocking off my opening loops. Having said that, I felt more in control of my offence than usual. Blocking was easier as the rubber was very elastic even at low speeds and was therefore more sensitive than my usual rubber. On reflection, the thing I liked most about Acuda was I was able to allow the ball to drop and still could make a drive because of the extreme arc I was able to put on the ball. Tomorrow I will bring out the black beast Vega Pro and reveal whether I think these two rubbers are twins or merely two strangers who came from the same town. See you. Petermoo |
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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LOL!
The Acuda I'm testing is red with cream coloured slightly yellow sponge. Petermoo
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Anton Chigurh
Premier Member Joined: 09/15/2009 Status: Offline Points: 3962 |
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I am certainly no expert, but as I understand it, the top sheets and sponges are made by ESN. There may be particular specifications that can be tinkered with for each brand, but I don't think that each product is completely made from scratch for each brand. The "carbo" in the name "carbo sponge" is kind of misleading (or so I've heard). That is, it's just a name and there isn't some carbon-based magic nano-particle that makes that sponge special. It's just marketing. (Carbon is black, Sponge is black, therefore: Carbo-sponge. It's catchy and it implies something "sciencey" is going on! ) In looking at the different products, I do see slight differences in the sponges. But they are minor. The differences that I noticed in play are very minor as well. The Blit'z and Acuda S1 are, in my admittedly limited perspective, nearly identical. The Vega Pro feels slightly harder and slightly faster than the others (but only slightly). I think that there is a basic formula for both the top sheets and sponges, which may be slightly altered to meet the specifications of a particular company. But ultimately, I think they're all just about the same--the main differences being the pip structures and sponge densities. Mixing and matching all these factors produces slight differences in the products but they're all still quite similar. But petermoo may say that I'm nuts and that the qualities of the rubbers are highly different. That's fine. I don't want to be "right", I just want to understand... and maybe in the process save some people some time and money. |
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metallikviper
Silver Member Joined: 07/09/2009 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 502 |
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Well if the Vega series has the black carbo sponge, shouldn't it play slightly different to the Hexer and Acuda S1 assuming that ESN Elastomer makes just the topsheets for these companies. Its all so very confusing. I agree with Anton as it would really save some folks a lot of money if we didn't have to try rubbers that were virtually identical and just the mold design was different.
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Nittaku Vioncello FL
FH: Donic Acuda S2 Max BH: TSP P1-R 1.1mm |
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Anton Chigurh
Premier Member Joined: 09/15/2009 Status: Offline Points: 3962 |
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Your Acuda S1 sponge is red? That is strange. Both of the sheets of Acuda S1 that I own have white sponges. Also, for the record, I don't necessarily think they're absolutely identical. I just thought they're both the same generation tensor from ESN and subsequently are highly similar--so similar that their differences are probably only noticeable or relevant to those with a fairly highly developed feel. I will concede up front that upon further comparison the Vega Pro seems a bit faster than the Acuda S1. Still, to me, the differences between Vega Pro, Hexer, Blit'z, and Acuda S1 are about the same as the differences I've found between different sheets of DHS Neo H3 (due to DHS poor QC). That is to say, the differences seem to be present but barely significant.
EDIT: If indeed all these rubbers are extremely similar (as I claim), then my only intent in pointing this out is to save some EJs some money. Do we all really need to buy all four products when they all only differ by the tiniest amount? If an EJ buys Hexer, then they probably have a really good idea about how Vega Pro, Blit'z, and Acuda S1 play, etc. No need to waste money on purchasing them. However, to get some convergent evidence, I did want the opinion of someone with a more refined "taste" in rubbers, such as yourself, petermoo. |
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Hans Regenkurt
Silver Member Joined: 08/12/2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 826 |
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I expect they are going to be different and the Acuda is a lot more consistent than the Vega.
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petermoo
Silver Member Joined: 10/13/2003 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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There's some debate going on about these two rubbers in this forum where at least one person is claiming that these two rubbers might be the same.
I just opened both rubbers up and am getting ready to do my testing. Even though the Vega Pro is a black sheet with black sponge and the Acuda I have is red, I can immediately see striking similarities between the two rubbers. The weight of both sheets appear identical. The topsheets smell about the same, the pliability and feeling of the sheets are about the same. If anything I think the sponge on the Vega Pro is a little bit rougher and dryer feeling (I don't think the sponges are identical at all) even though its very possible the topsheets are the same. The grippyness seems about the same and the pip density to the naked eye seems quite similar as well as the orientation and alignment. Now I know I said I wasnt going to be doing any EJing for a while but like all crack addicts know, I just cant help myself when it comes to this stuff. So later today I will first try out the Acuda S1 and after that I will do the comparison against the Vega Pro after that and let you guys know. Petermoo |
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