The compositions are slightly different (HL5 has Ayous as 2nd layer. IF-ALC has limba). This means that the HL5 is slightly bouncier and a stroke with HL5 has less spin (if you don't brush) as compared to a similar stroke with IF-ALC (or a Viscaria or a MJ-SZLC). Of course, if you brush, it has same spin (as IF-ALC. More than Viscaria. Same as MJ-SZLC).

But the HL5 is a much more offensive blade (than the IF-ALC) and much more fun to play with. The difference is due to it's extra length. This gives it fantastic catapault and flex. It is a more powerful blade than the IF-ALC or the Viscaria (though it is less bouncy than the Viscaria).

I heard about its thin FL handle before. I absolutely can't play with the BTY Timo Boll FL handles (too thin). But the HL5 FL handles are possibly the best I've played with (along with the Stiga Legend FL handles). They are long and create a balanced blade.

The blade weight shall be high (because of large size). I currently have MX-P / T05 and it is 195gms. But it is very balanced.

No, I'm keeping them.

different. NMLC is like DHS HK3

Slevin, you really know your shit.  I looked further into it and got similar findings.  Thanks.

Don't know the official size.

I measured and got 159x152.

Some things in life are just too beautiful to consider selling, especially when you are destroying your competition with it. And yeah prices have gone up badly on the entire Long range!

Below are HL5 (left) and B2 ALC (right).

All wood B1 with koto (above). B2 ALC with different wood (below)

wat...looking to trade in my vis lol

vis is soft. if it feels stiff, you probably have a light one. that's the only explanation i can think of. unless you're used to playing maze, arylate wood, or some soft wood like OC. knocking on it may feel hard but when u spin or block with it, it's very soft for an A/C hence soft feel label.

HL5 and B2 are meant to look the same with same material. 

I've played with both the HL5 and B2. HL5 is flexier and has more dwell time. B2 is harder and stiffer and is better for blocks. For a looper the HL5 would be better. The B2 would be better for those who like to block with their backhand or is an all-around player and loops with their Bhand less. Well still boils down to personal preference. Speed for both blades is about the same IMHO.

thanks, B2 would have same or better loops than what well known blades (to gauge the level)?

of course hurricane and tenergy lol

Well, almost, IMHO.

Soft rubbers don't go well with stiff, hard blades as the rubbers would bottom out quicker. If you put the same rubber on a softer blade, you could finish more strokes without the bottoming out.

Earlier on in this thread, someone compared the hardness of VIscaria & HL5. To me, HL5 is softer on very soft strokes and harder on the larger strokes (which also makes sense given that the carbon layer is inner on the HL5) than the Viscaria.

Regarding HL5's compatibility, as HL5 is both solid and flexy, I think it could work with a wide variety of rubbers.

I've tried it with Vega Pro, H3 Neo (39 deg, unboosted), MX-P on FH. I've tried it with Acuda Blue P2, Omega V Europe, EL-S, T05 and Boosted Baracuda on BH. They all worked well. MX-P is a bit bouncy though.

Your personal preferences notwithstanding, there are many players who have used stiff hard blades with soft rubbers for their style.  If anyone wants to get into the details or concepts behind rubber and blade matching at a technical level, they are here:

https://thoughtsontabletennis.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/introduction-to-table-tennis-blade-design/

But the general rules he provides are more thinking about high level offensive looping/attack game, and do not account for idiosyncratic styles or feelings for the ball.  I know blockers who put soft rubbers on extremely fast blades. It's their thing.

for me, soft works on anything. it's just that you lose some power with flatter shots like flips and counters. tenergy works on everything!!

How is fang bo handle compared to PG5X? Which one is smaller? 

The classic HL5 (not the recent with thickened core) is a slow blade. at least my instance from TT11. I cannot call it fast. It is not bouncy. It is made for control and topspin attacks. As someone mentioned here, due to the head size and possible thanks to the shape of the wings it flexes making it to explode a big time on powerful shots. Mine is 91g, so it has enough meat in it to be considered fast, but the truth is, blade is not fast. Viscaria in 87g or Stiga 12k is faster. 

In general I agree with this. When choosing to upgrade my blade I almost went for B2. The reason is that I was coming from 5ply limba, I just needed a bit more devil to add to it. So ended up choosing between B2 and HL5. Oh boy, glad I went ahead and got myself HL5. What a great piece of equipment it is!!! I mentioned elsewhere, it helped me to fix number of problems. BH loops, FH loops, FH top spin kills, and surprise surprise - BH blocks. I have the most consistent BH block in the the club. It was not something I was specially training for. People would come to warmup with me because I somehow magically able to block their top spins with precise placement, no effort from my side. The only explanations to this is gear as I did not train blocks with my coach at all. HL5 impressed and surprised me. Ayous x 3, alc and limba. This blade does not have any special feeling. Koto is crisp and precise; hinoki is like warm butter LOL, walnut has pleasant tok tok vibration. Even hardened limba on stigas is crisp. HL5 is not here and not there, somewhat muted feeling, softish. It took me some time to develop a feeling to tell where ball is touching a surface. Nothing special on the feeling side. No distractions. It just made for heavy duty playing rather than focusing on the feel and etc.

One thing to notice though - these days I normally have setup weighting around 192g, whereas blade is 91g. The other day I changed FH rubber and ended up with 188g, maybe I used less glue or rubber was not consistent. So when setup is under 190g it feels like blade bends less and catapults less. 3g should not be such a big deal but it is.