Stiga Calibra LT is very good

also anyone played palio thor and calibra both? 

A friend of mine (former top 30 in England) switched to Calibra (from Pryde) before his league match last night following my recommendation. He said Calibra was considerably quicker than Pryde. He agreed with me that it is a rubber that you need to play shots with and it keeps you on your toes, but it does reward good shots. I had a good win over an aggressive Tenergy using opponent (who usually gets close) 1,5 and 3 because he couldn't control the spin on my opening loops and he was unable to get his first shot in throughout the game. For me, Calibra has a much better balance of speed and spin and is a more complete rubber than Tenergy.

I have been using it for about 8 weeks maybe around 60 or 70 hours. Surface grip feels great though the red rubber (FH) in particular is starting to show visible signs of use. 

Is this rubber in any way similar to tensors? My experience with those was that you always had to hit the ball hard or it would slip or otherwise become a little unpredictable. Also, hard to brush or do any lower speed spinny shots. Basically engage the sponge well and all or nothing.

NoFootwork wrote: High_Arc and Baal:  How does the Viscaria compare to the Michael Maze blade?    I currently play with T05 2.1mm on a Michael Maze blade and love that setup.  However, due to ever increasing price of T05, I may try the Calibra LT once my current T05 sheet gives up the ghost.   Do you think Calibra LT would play well on a M. Maze?

I have never used a M.Maze so I can't tell from my own experience. Some people say that the TBS (which I've played with) and the M.Maze are very similar and some say that the TBS and the Viscaria are very similar. I personally think that the Viscaria is notable softer than the TBS.

However, I would assume that the Calibra LT plays well on a M.Maze.

I have not played with a Maze for a long time and have never owned one, but based on the one I hit with it seemed like Viscaria is notably faster than Maze and both have very soft feel.  I think that Calibra LT might be especially good on a Maze.

Baal why did you not like acuda s1? what were the problems?

debraj, I reviewed Acuda S1 awhile back (August I think).  MyTT had sent me a free sheet to review.  Here are excerpts of what I wrote then, along with some commentary on my commentary:

The first question many will ask is whether this is a suitable substitute for Tenergy rubbers.  The answer is definitely not if you play with T05.  Probably not if you play with T64.  Acuda S1 is something quite different. [When they sent me the rubber for free to review it was because I was a T05 user and they new that the question would arise as to whether this was the perfect substitute people were looking for.  This was right about the time that Butterfly had announced their coming ridiculous price increases].

It is reasonably fast and has pretty good sound.   .. it is not explosive.  It is almost too linear.  The throw angle of this rubber is quite low.  That aspect reminded me of the earlier generation Donic rubber GO Gold. I had trouble adjusting to it coming from T05. Of course these days everything I play with that is not T05 seems to throw low.  [There have been several threads about this tendency of T05 users to find just about everything else pretty strange once they have adapted their stroked and shot selection to the super high throw.  JKC in particular noted that it takes most people about a month to wean themselves off of the throw angle of T05 and I still have not been able to do it].   Compared to T05 it does not generate spin-power on  loops.  The trajectory remains linear, and I had trouble getting enough spin  to get the penetration I am looking for. Off the table, when I let the ball drop just a little lower than is optimal this became a real problem, whereas T05 will often save me in that situation.  [These are the things I disliked the most about Acuda.  Calibra LT can work well in that situation, Hexer too, also speed glued Mark V or Bryce FX back in the day.  There is something about "natural" rubbers that really helps you when the ball is dropping]. 

Away from the table in general it fell short of T64 or T05 or Boost or Hexer in terms of the sense of explosive speed that you need to counterloop effectively.  [Note that there is one other Tensor on this list I find superior, Hexer.  I would add Omega 3 Pro to that list]

Loops in general really lack that penetrating power that you need, even if you do manage to get the ball go move quickly.  That thing I sometimes call "spin-power", which is ball velocity multiplied by rotations per second is not as high as you would like since more speed with this rubber tends to mean less spin.  It was very hard to get loops that are well into their downward trajectory as they go over the net.  Trying for that, ball tended to go into the net, or if I made it it just didn't bother my opponent very much.  [This was also true for my opponent when I let him try it.  He uses Omega IV these days, was using Omega III at the time.  Calibra LT may be the best rubber in existence off the table].

Blocking is comfortable because of the relative hard sponge, but I felt like I couldn't get the bite I need to counterloop from very close in the way I am used to doing.  [My level is high enough that I counterloop usually quite effectively in points.  I mention to this in response to a comment on MyTT a few days ago that I thought was a good one.  The comment was about people complaining about counterlooping properties of equipment but generally not needing that shot at their level, at least not once they start playing matches].  Flat hitting, also not bad because of the sponge hardness.  [Short game was also good for this reason].

Serving was fine with usual spin and no-spin combinations having their usual effectiveness.  Returns of serve felt fine too because of the hardness of the sponge.  You can get away with playing passively in a way that is not possible with T05.  Whether this is a good thing will depend on your level and who you are playing.  IN general I think this is not necessarily a good property.  [People who find T05 problematic have a tendency to play passively at times.  This is what they mean when they say that the sensitivity of T05 to spin is a problem.  If you do not "bite" the ball when playing a spinny ball -- that is, if your tendency is to block rather than counterloop-- then T05 will be a real liability.  Acuda S1 on the other hand will not, and so for some people this rubber would be a better choice].

In short I didn't like it very much.  I think Joola Phenix is definitely better, as are Boost TC and Boost TS.  Hexer is far better.  [Note again my preference for a different Tensor.  I don't think Phenix is a Tensor, but I preferred it too]

I then gave it to a friend and frequent practice partner, [about a 2100 player], he put it on his DHS Wang Liqin blade.  He normally uses T05 on his backhand and Xiom Omega 3 Asian version on his forehand.  He didn't like it either, and when I was playing against him I noticed that the ball had its usual velocity but was very easy to deal with, very  predictable, less spin power than I was used to facing against him.  He reached much the same conclusions I did and it will not be on his blade after today.  He doesn't think it can work for him on either side of his racket.  He rated it as less useable than Platin, or Xiom Omega series, which are the two tensors he has used.  About the only thing I thought he was doing effectively today was returning serve.  

Anyway, Debraj, that is what I thought at the time.  These things are always a question of taste and what you are used to going into it  It has some good properties that I didn' mention in that particular post, such as it is very linear and easy to get used to its properties.  It may improve consistency for some people, and also it is quite light.

I very much prefer Calibra LT, but it would take a lot longer to get used to playing with it because it is so fast.

I think many will take a long time to get used to Calibra and some would be better going for the Sound version. Calibra is more a rubber for 'advanced' players, which means that every Tom, Dick or Harry at the local club will be using it and neither controlling it or getting the best from it. It will put a smile on on your face though, but you will only really get the best from it it you work hard and train lots with it.

Edited by JKC - 10/29/2010 at 4:50am

Baal, you ...!!! everytime I read about S1 from you, I get crazy. By donic: Recommended for Aggressive Offensiveplayer, close to the table, who relies on the first fast ball.

For such close to the table game/style, excessive catapult of rubber and blade is wrong thing. It cant be explosive. Off the table topspin play is only possible, but it is not the domain of acuda S1. Sure it does not bite the ball (no tensor usualy bites the ball for real. Hell, did you said boost TS bites the ball?) and for counter looping at the table it is better to drive more than spin the ball.At the table, acuda S1 is good for speed game. Moreover, its topsheet can produce great underspin and keep it low and short, to prepare fast shot at the table. I know, you tried to present it as a comparison to T05, but donic never meant acuda S1 to compete with T05. Also, tenergy altered you stroke, because this is what tenergy does, when you start playing with it. So you would need to go back in time and change your strokes a bit to get from ESN rubbers the best. The testing and reviewing is quite difficult, I always think that after some time, Iwould get from any rubber better performance than I am getting at the moment of testing procedure, even though I can get good results and adjust quickly to it.

My vids do give the impression that I play away from the Table Debraj, but that is only in the longer rallies. I win most of my points at the table by getting in first with fast, heavy spin loops - it doesn't make exciting viewing though, so you mostly get the longer rallies on the vids. Calibra suits this very offensive style too, but not so much the slower controlled spinny loops that Tenergy is so good at.

Debraj

Joola Phenix is made in Japan. 

with calibra lt 2.0mm, I cant see any of positive features mentioned here.

High arc, it is not statement, but opinion. Therefore "I cant see", not "there are no".
However, I understand the blade issue and will wait until I try different blade, before I say my final words. However the positive thing - I expected it to be more balanced rubber, as JKC said, complete rubber.

For the thickness, I assume that if they make 1.8mm, then contradiction is rather in your opinion than mine.
However calibra lt has very good topsheet. That friction is insane.
btw 61 grams uncut.

tomas.gt wrote: High arc, it is not statement, but opinion. Therefore "I cant see", not "there are no". However, I understand the blade issue and will wait until I try different blade, before I say my final words. However the positive thing - I expected it to be more balanced rubber, as JKC said, complete rubber. For the thickness, I assume that if they make 1.8mm, then contradiction is rather in your opinion than mine. However calibra lt has very good topsheet. That friction is insane. btw 61 grams uncut.

sorry for being a bit harsh!

you're right that the contradiction is rather my opinion and in that sense i don't understand why the rubber is produced in 1.8mm (at least not 1.5mm). further the blade may really make a large difference, i agree.

i however think that the rubber is quite well balanced though it is a bit tricky to get high spin on slow loops (or in other words it is a bit tricky to play slow loops in general).

looking forward for you final words (hope you will like the rubber, otherwise i will probably disagree )