Pro Supex Big Ace

Pro Supex Big Ace
Gauge: 16 (1.28), 17 (1.25), 18 (1.22)
Price: $8/set
Type: Polyester
Color: Red, Pearl White, Lime Yellow

Setup:
Mains - Pro Supex Big Ace 17G @ 45lbs
Cross - Pro Supex Maxim Touch 16G @ 42lbs

Stringing: Fairly easy to string. Nothing special.

Play: I haven't been able to post an entry for about a month. I haven't had time to play test strings because of consistent tournaments and league matches. Here is my take on Pro Supex Big Ace.

Pro Supex Big Ace has been around for a few years now. It was the talk on Tennis Warehouse's strings discussion board. This string still was one of my favorite strings to play with until recently. My reasoning can be found below.

Big Ace has excellent playability for its price. It is considered as a powerful and soft polyester. Even with the big power you can get with Big Ace, the string also has ample control, spin, and feel. The string can be easily played for 4-6 hours before tension starts to loosen. My favorite aspect of the string was the power and spin that you were able to generate. I think it was as good as Luxilon Alu Power. The biggest drawback on this string was the playability drops off like a rock after the first 4-6 hours. The string becomes very very mushy and soft. This characteristic of the string was the only reason I switched to another string. But don't get me wrong. This string is an excellent string to play with when freshly strung. I still know many players who still love playing with Big Ace. I recommend that players cut out the string one the string bed becomes mushy.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 9
Control: 8
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 6
Feel: 7
Durability: 6
Tension Maintenance: 6

Pro Supex Matrix Hybrid

Pro Supex Matrix Hybrid
Gauge 1: 16L Big Ace (1.25) Maxim Touch (1.30)
Gauge 2: 17L Big Ace (1.22) Maxim Touch (1.25)
Price: $7.95/set
Type: Co-poly / Multifilament Hybrid
Color: Red / White

Note: If you purchase the retail pack, Big Ace will come in Red. I was able to recreate this hybrid from reels of Pro Supex strings I had.

Setup
Mains: Pro Supex Maxim Touch 16G @ 55lbs
Cross: Pro Supex Big Ace 17G @ 52lbs

Play Test:
In this play test, Maxim Touch was strung on the mains to see Maxim Touch's playability. I will be focusing mainly on how my main strings perform since the crosses only act as support. I also have another setup that I will be blogging where Big Ace were strung on the mains.

Pro Supex Maxim Touch has earned very high reviews among other play testers. These testimonials can be seen all over the internet. My experience with this hybrid setup has been very positive. Maxim Touch in the mains provided plenty of power, feel, control, and spin. I felt that Maxim Touch played very similar to Wilson's NXT in pre-stretched form. The only down side about Maxim Touch was that it became fairly mushy towards the end of its life. If I had a full bed of Maxim Touch, the mushiness would be bothersome. By having a poly in the crosses helped maintain stiffness of the string bed.

A head to head comparison is shown below:
Wilson NXT Pre-stretch vs. Pro Supex Maxim Touch
Power: NXT by a slight margin.
Control: About the same.
Spin: Ball bite was slightly better with NXT pre-stretched.
Stiffness: About the same
Feel: About the same
Durability: About the same
Playability for Price: Maxim Touch by a huge margin.

The playability-price ratio is what really stood out. Maxim Touch's playability is very similar but the price is at a much lower rate. A set of Maxim Touch is priced about $9 where as NXT is priced at $16. This multifilament is highly recommended for player who do not want to play with polyester strings and want to play with a high-end feeling multi at almost half the price.

Quick Review (out of 10)
Power: 8
Control: 8
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 5.5
Feel: 6.5
Durability: 4
Tension Maintenance: 7

Pro Supex Blue Gear

Pro Supex Blue Gear
Gauge: 16 (1.28), 17 (1.25), 18 (1.19)
Price: $10/set
Type: Co-polymer
Color: Pearl Blue, Pearl White

Spin me in the court baby! This string has sick bite. You literally rip the fuzz off the ball every time you come in contact with the ball. After your follow-through, you breathe tennis fuzz.

This string to date, produces the most spin out of any rough/textured string that I played with (gauge relative). No other string compares to the amount of spin you can generate with Blue Gear. The 16 gauge probably generates more spin than a typical 18 gauge poly. What creates all this spin? Pro Supex claims that this string is hexagonal but I say its more like a star with 6 vertices. If you run your nails around this string, you can hear the ribs. Luxilon Alu Power Rough comes no where near how much spin you can produce with Blue Gear. The 16 gauge is probably the most textured.

This string is stiff. Stiffer than Luxilon. If you have arm problems, string LOW, or hybrid it with a synthetic. Not much feel on this string but adiquate power and massive spin. Really nice string if you are looking for spin. Durability is good and tension maintenance is better than the average poly. Only problem with this string is that it tends to get mushy before it breaks. Not a really good feeling at the end. Other than that, very nice string and spin production for its price.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 8
Control: 7
Spin: 10
Stiffness: 9
Feel: 6
Durability: 8
Tension Maintenance: 7