They both seem to be tensor rubbers. Goldarc 8 is labeled as 'power+speed' and Goldarc 5 is 'control+spin'. They are both on the ITTF list of approved racket coverings.

It's red, medium thickness (2.0mm is my guess) and 42.5 sponge.  Topsheet feels quite grippy and is more translucent than most recent ESN I've used, so it looks a bit retro.  For context, if you compare the red topsheets of Rakza 7 with Rakza X, the 7 has very visible pips whereas the X is matte and opaque.

60g uncut, 42g cut to 157x150.  Pretty light.

I'll post back when I've used it.

Yeah, I know what you're saying.  The grip seems very good in a basic spin test, and it feels a bit harder than 42.5 when finger pressing, but it's hard to say much else.  The topsheet does remind me a lot of Xiom Musa, at least visually.

They are both available in two hardnesses.

GA5 is 42.5 and 47.5

GA8 is 47.5 and 50

It's definitely low-catapult in comparison with the big ESN guns - this is more like a slightly enhanced Xiom Musa.  It's telling that goldarc 8 has the tensor logo on the packet while GA5 does not.

In comparison with something like Musa, GA5 has a bit more catapult and spin, and is ridiculously easy to use for all the basic work you do at the table.  The topsheet works well with no surprises, but has just enough grip to produce solid spin and no slippage.  What it lacks is top-end power, and it would need a fast blade to suit someone who currently uses a faster 42.5 ESN rubber (like JP03, or Hype EL Pro).  In fact, where this could be a useful fit is for someone who has purposely picked a rocketship blade to speed up a slower rubber on one side (H3N on FH is the obvious example), but who then needs a more reasonable rubber on the other side.  Or a real-world allround player who doesn't need to drop massive loopkill bombs from the carpark all night long.  Or a beginner/intermediate who wants to spin the ball with a high margin of safety.

I didn't order a sheet of GA8, but I'm betting that it will be more along the lines of faster, catapultier (yeah, I typed that), ESN tensors.  In comparison, GA5 is from that "modern classic" ESN non-tensor line, but it feels like the best one I've tried so far from that group by a small margin.  I haven't tried the absolute latest ones like andro good, ventus basic, joola axxess so I'm not sure how it stacks up against those.

This may seem like a dumb question, but are these hardnesses measured on the usual DHS scale (like the hardnesses for Hurricane) or on the ESN scale (like the hardnesses for Rasant)? If it is on the DHS scale, then the sponge must be like a brick.

Not sticky at all, just grippy.

Chairman Meow wrote: This may seem like a dumb question, but are these hardnesses measured on the usual DHS scale (like the hardnesses for Hurricane) or on the ESN scale (like the hardnesses for Rasant)? If it is on the DHS scale, then the sponge must be like a brick.

ESN scale.

IanMcg wrote: The only prices I've been seeing it at, is around $50. Is it worth it?

That's a bad price.  It's $40 at prott, but as low as $27 on aliexpress if you can bear to go that route.  Really need someone more mainstream to pick it up like ttnpp I suppose.  It should be priced around the Musa mark IMO, so I think £22-£25 is reasonable.

The short game is really incredible, mainly due to the easy-going topsheet and lack of bounce.  I pulled off a few double-bounce pushes from quite odd positions - won a few surprise points.  But I duffed a lot of basic stuff into the net where I'd usually rely on catapult to get the ball over the net.

If I was using a faster blade, I'd consider it.

Yup.  It's a bit softer than Mark V as well.

I popped it on the faster side of a Double Day Terminator blade and had a bash there - much better.  Next is a Fang Bo 2.  Definitely needs a fast blade unless you're going for a true allround experience.

I think this kind of rubber would work better for me on a slightly harder sponge.  Happily. it looks like Nittaku have something along these lines on a 45 degree sponge - Factive.  And the sponge colour is...fabulous.  Might give one of those a bash.

Andy (or anyone who's played w/ both), 

Would you mind comparing GA5 to Karis M?