Stiga Calibra LT+ & LT Spin Review

gotten today these 2 rubbers as part of my prize from the stiga facebook contest last april.

rubbers: 

stiga calibra lt+ red 2.0mm

stiga calibra lt spin black 2.0mm

blade:

stiga maplewood nct 7 conic handle

Stiga Calibra LT+

these variant of the calibra series has the firmest sponge among the 4 calibras that i have tried. medium porous sponge with minute pores. average size pimples and has a thick topsheet. its still light for a modern speed glue effect rubber.

fh to fh, bh to bh

fast balls with low throw angle. it has a long trajectory fitting to its name. you need to adjust a bit on the control though since this rubber is very fast even at 2.0mm. 

looping fh & bh

looping underspin is not much of a problem but the spin it produces is only average say 7 out of 10. the rubber doesnt have much dwell time even with the 2mm sponge. i love it in my backhand loops though. my friend who is blocking my bh loops its spinny though i think its because of my stroke that i use a lot of wrist. low throw angle

pushes and flicks

pushing is controlable both fh and bh. as fast as the rubber is i was surprised that pushing isnt that hard. the ball doesnt pop when you push it even with the springy sponge. flicks are excellent with these especially the banana flicks against short underspin balls.

serving

average spin only though the player would benefit if he wants a fast sidespin serve with this rubber

blocking and counters

excellent for blocking and countering loops. the sponge is springy but its easy to block or counter with this rubber. it really shines here and its very good far from the table because of its speed and power. this rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin by the way.

Stiga Calibra LT Spin

i was surprised to see this rubber as non tacky because at first i thought this was really a grip-s clone, i was wrong. its medium soft. firmer than the LT Sound but softer than the regulat LT. It has a very thin topsheet.

fh to fh, bh to bh

good control but still plenty of speed. has a louder sound than the LT+

Looping fh & bh

medium to high throw. i love brushing the ball with it and produce tons of spin. i love doing above the table spin drives with this rubber since it can grip the ball well even above the table. it is very spinny. bh loops are excellent too. good control and arc of the ball.

pushes and flicks

flicks are above average. pushes are excellent because the rubber is very spinny. the ball doesnt pop.

blocking & counters

blocking is good. the rubber is ok with the incoming spin. counterlooping is also good since you can spin the ball back really well. 

overall impressions of the 2 rubbers

if you are a counter hitter, smasher or attacks with lesser spin but more on power and speed get the the LT+. if you want control, spin with decent speed try the LT Spin. Im biased towards the LT Spin since its the rubber that suits me. you would take into consideration that these rubber if they are in 2.2mm thickness they would be faster especially the LT +. It is a beast in terms of speed and power and yes it is faster than tenergy 64 with lesser spin.

i would rate these rubbers as:

spin

LT Spin>LT Sound>LT regular > LT +

Speed

LT+>LT regular>LT Sound = LT Spin

Control

LT Spin>LT Sound>LT Regular>LT +

Sponge Hardness

LT+>LT regular>LT Spin > LT Sound

Let's hope that Calibra Spin will be a durable rubber. After all, the Japanese products are durable !

lt plus : 50°; I cannot confirm if it really feels 50 which seems high

Having much experience in Boost series and Calibra LT and Sound, I think that the 2.0mm versions are faster than the MAX versions !

It's ok if you combine it with a slow blade.

OFF- would be ok.

No, I haven't tried these blades.