Nexy Kanaph Review by Matt Pimple

Nexy Kanaph Review (in comparison with Dr. Neubauer Hercules)

Abbreviations: Hercules (HER), Kanaph (KAN)

Disclaimer: I received the blade from Nexy for testing

About the reviewer:
My USATT rating is around 1900. My strength is my forehand with which I score the majority of my points mainly through looping; my serve is probably above average for my rating. I play close to the table with blocking and looping. I play with frictionless anti on backhand, mainly for returning serve and blocking topspin loops.

Setup:
Both blades in this test were played with the same rubbers, Tenergy 05 max on forehand and Dr. Neubauer ABS 1.2mm (frictionless anti) on backhand. The HER has an anatomic and the KAN a flared handle.

Category: OFF
Weight: 83g
Plies: 3+2; Hinoki-Carbon-burnt Kiri-Carbon-Hinoki
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Handle type: flared
Dimensions (H x W): 15.7 x 15.0cm
Flex: stiff
Hardness: medium

Appearance:
The Kanaph blade is absolutely top notch in terms of craftsmanship and finish down to the last detail. You can see how much love and enthusiasm goes into the design of this blade and to me it is of higher quality than some Butterfly, Xiom or Victas blades just to name a few high end brand blades I have tested in the past. The blade is not cheap ($130) but you get an absolute beauty with superb quality and the finest materials.
I did not post any pictures here because I could not take any better ones than on the Nexy website, so please check those for reference:
http://nexy.com/shop/blades/266-kanaph.html

Weight
I ordered my KAN with 83g which is what I prefer and this is exactly what I received. However, when gluing the rubber on, the blade actually feels lighter than it is. My HER setup had a heavier more solid feel to it even though the blade is 4g lighter. Due to the burnt Kiri core, which reduces the moisture content of it and hence makes it less dense, the center of gravity is shifted more towards the handle giving the blade overall a lighter feel to it. I would recommend to maybe get the KAN a few grams heavier than what you would usually go for.

Feel/Touch
I would describe the feel of the KAN as medium due to the Hinoki outers though the HER has a softer touch to it, however the KAN does have a very nice touch in the short game. The KAN has more of a carbon feel to it than the HER, maybe due to the thicker Hinoki outers of the HER. However, the KAN does not have the dead feel of some of the carbon blades

Flex
The KAN is quite stiff due to the carbon layers and thus it feels very solid on blocks or drives.

Speed
I was debating this point more than any other and finally decided to call the KAN a pure OFF blade though some people may also classify it as OFF-. I think that the KAN actually has two faces as it behaves more like a OFF- blade in the short or touch game whereas it is a true OFF blade when you really rip it. I believe that the burnt Kiri core gives it somewhat of a mild balsa effect meaning it is slow and controlled on touch shots but really accelerates on power shots. It does show a strong catapult effect especially on power loops. Interestingly, it was easier for me to block no spin short behind the net with my ABS anti (normally a weak point of anti play) as the burnt Kiri core seemed to provide some kind of a breaking effect similar to balsa.

Control
Overall, the KAN is a very controlled blade for being in the OFF category, probably on the higher end of any OFF blade I have tested and I believe it is one of its big advantages. It does have a little bit of a muted carbon feel to it though, however I could always direct the ball where I wanted it.

Dwell/Spin
Dwell time and spin generation on looping as well as serving is certainly above average due to the Hinoki outer. Spin on serving was excellent and spin on loops was very good as well. In particular the combination with Tenergy 05 and the Hinoki outers works very well.

Throw Angle
The KAN is quite interesting in this category since on slow brush loops it shows a relatively high throw due to the softer Hinoki outers, however on harder shots the throw flattens out more which might be due to the catapult effect of the burnt core. Power looping has less arc than with the HER setup.

Blocking
Since the KAN is pretty stiff blocking is very easy and stable though the throw is relatively low when blocking against power shots. Some blade angle adjustment was needed here but nothing to major and I could get used to after just a few shots. I really like it a lot for blocking with the T05 though I found the HER easier to block with the ABS anti probably because it is a little bit slower.

Conclusions
The new Nexy Kanaph is a real master piece and it was a lot of fun testing it. For me personally and my style of play, it is probably a little bit too fast and I prefer more linear blades. I would recommend this blade to anybody who is looking for a solid OFF blade with good power and spin on looping also off the table. For me it works very well with T05 with excellent control, spin and power.