7 ply all-wood with Koto outer and Ayous intermediate and core

[Trevize84]

Hello, I tried a Butterfly Power 7. What a blade! Of course like all good things in tabletennis it's been discontinued. Now I'm looking for a koto-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-koto that ideally should be close to 5.7 mm. I found DHS Power-G9 (6.3mm) and YinHe Uranus U-2 (6 mm). Anyone that can directly compare these blades? Do you know of anything close to Butterfly Power 7? Thanks.

 

[mightymouse]

Blade with exact composition compared to your description is Xiom Solo. It is 7-ply blade with ayous middle layers and koto outerply. However, the thickness is around 6.3 - 6.4 mm if I remember correctly. The price is moderate, but I am not sure if it is still available in the market now.

The closest to that composition (not exactly the same) is Donic Person Powerplay (7-ply allwood blade). It is either koto - foil - ayous - ayous - ayous - foil - koto or koto - ayous - foil - ayous - foil - ayous - koto. (It can be either one, as the description only says that it is composed of ayous and koto outerply with "foil" (not sure what it is)). Thickness is 5.9 mm.

There are 3 types of Donic Persson Powerplay:
a. Normal (full handle)
b. V1 - version = faster speed with similar control (void in the handle)
c. V2 - version = more control with similar speed (void in the handle)

The price is quite cheap, compared to other mainstream blades.

 

[turbozed]

Hello, I tried a Butterfly Power 7. What a blade! Of course like all good things in tabletennis it's been discontinued. Now I'm looking for a koto-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-koto that ideally should be close to 5.7 mm. I found DHS Power-G9 (6.3mm) and YinHe Uranus U-2 (6 mm). Anyone that can directly compare these blades? Do you know of anything close to Butterfly Power 7? Thanks.

Some objective measures:
DHS PG9 is measured at anywhere from 1250 to 1345 hz on the frequency chart, suggesting an OFF- speed (about a dozen readings).
Yinhe U2 is measured at 1310 to 1324 hz (3 readings) also suggesting OFF- speed.
There are no frequency ratings for Power 7.

Based on revspin reviews:
However, based on the reviews on revspin, people are saying that the PG9 is very hard and stiff. One guy says that it's faster than a Viscaria. DHS rates the blade as OFF ++ as well. Speed is rated at 9.1.
Yinhe U2 is one of the most recommended blades in China and it's known to be around ALL+ to OFF- with a large sweet spot. Speed is rated at 8.3.
Butterfly Power 7 speed is rated at 9.0. However, almost all of these ratings are pre plastic ball. So you can probably adjust it lower.

I'm guessing the U2 will be closer based on the thickness and people not commenting on how hard and stiff the blade is. At $20 or so and a proven track record in China, U2 is one of those under-the-radar gems that nobody talks about in English speaking forums.

 

[damszelfly]

Despite the thickness (~6.4mm), I think, Xiom Solo would be a good substitute, as it provides a great feeling for power looping. Yinhe Uranus U2 is also a close substitute (thickness ~6.0mm) which gives also a good feeling, maybe a touch harder than Solo. While DHS Power G9 has theoretically the same types of veneers, the thicknesses are very different (the top Koto layer is very thin, and the core is thicker), and in practice, it does not really feel like both Solo and Uranus U2, it is softer and bouncier in general.
Personally, I don't think that Power G9 is stiff, just the bounciness can be a bit misleading - I feel it is flexible enough when I use it with DHS Hurricane 3 Neo. Xiom Solo and Yinhe Uranus U2 feel more linear.

 

[Trevize84]

Some objective measures:
DHS PG9 is measured at anywhere from 1250 to 1345 hz on the frequency chart, suggesting an OFF- speed (about a dozen readings).
Yinhe U2 is measured at 1310 to 1324 hz (3 readings) also suggesting OFF- speed.
There are no frequency ratings for Power 7.

Based on revspin reviews:
However, based on the reviews on revspin, people are saying that the PG9 is very hard and stiff. One guy says that it's faster than a Viscaria. DHS rates the blade as OFF ++ as well. Speed is rated at 9.1.
Yinhe U2 is one of the most recommended blades in China and it's known to be around ALL+ to OFF- with a large sweet spot. Speed is rated at 8.3.
Butterfly Power 7 speed is rated at 9.0. However, almost all of these ratings are pre plastic ball. So you can probably adjust it lower.

I'm guessing the U2 will be closer based on the thickness and people not commenting on how hard and stiff the blade is. At $20 or so and a proven track record in China, U2 is one of those under-the-radar gems that nobody talks about in English speaking forums.

Where did you take the frequency measurements?

 

[turbozed]

Where did you take the frequency measurements?

From this spreadsheet:

Table Tennis Blade Frequency (Speed) Compendium - Google Drive

docs.google.com

 

[Trevize84]

From this spreadsheet:

Table Tennis Blade Frequency (Speed) Compendium - Google Drive

docs.google.com

Cool, thanks!

 

[Trevize84]

(Deleted because was posted to the wrong thread)

 

[DaveNewbie]

The closest to that composition (not exactly the same) is Donic Person Powerplay (7-ply allwood blade). It is either koto - foil - ayous - ayous - ayous - foil - koto or koto - ayous - foil - ayous - foil - ayous - koto. (It can be either one, as the description only says that it is composed of ayous and koto outerply with "foil" (not sure what it is)). Thickness is 5.9 mm.

My Persson Powerplay V1 is koto - foil - ayous - ayous - ayous - foil - koto. A very balanced blade indeed, moderately fast and stiff, really easy to control. A good blade to develop your game.

 

[Trevize84]

I'm not evaluating composite blades

 

[turbozed]

Despite the thickness (~6.4mm), I think, Xiom Solo would be a good substitute, as it provides a great feeling for power looping. Yinhe Uranus U2 is also a close substitute (thickness ~6.0mm) which gives also a good feeling, maybe a touch harder than Solo. While DHS Power G9 has theoretically the same types of veneers, the thicknesses are very different (the top Koto layer is very thin, and the core is thicker), and in practice, it does not really feel like both Solo and Uranus U2, it is softer and bouncier in general.
Personally, I don't think that Power G9 is stiff, just the bounciness can be a bit misleading - I feel it is flexible enough when I use it with DHS Hurricane 3 Neo. Xiom Solo and Yinhe Uranus U2 feel more linear.

That's great that you've tried all 3. Sounds like you're a bit of a 7 ply connoisseur.

I'm pretty committed to my Fextras for a good while, but since the Chinese 7 plies are so cheap, what would be other models to try or upgrade to?

PD 537 is like Barwell at a fraction of the price and looks to be great value, but might be a little too fast and hard for me to handle as a beginner. Is there a more moderate upgrade from a softer Off- 7 ply like the Fextra somewhere in between? Trying to develop a two wing looping style (maybe more FH dominant) from mostly close distance.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

If you can find Loki

亚瑟 K1
ARTHUR K1
75
80
7
蔻头koto 阿尤斯ayous 阿尤斯ayous 阿尤斯ayous 阿尤斯ayous 阿尤斯ayous 蔻头koto
6
88
OFF

 

[mightymouse]

I'm not evaluating composite blades

If your reply referred to Donic Persson Powerplay, then it is not a composite blades in my opinion.

When they say it contains foil, it is much speculated that the foil is indeed a paper like material. And we know that paper is made of wood. So basically it is 7-ply allwood.

If you have the chance to look at Persson Powerplay, you will be amazed that you can only see 5 layers of wood. The "foil" itself is not visible, because it is so so so thin....

 

[lodro]

have one made by DSC

 

[OldUser]

My Persson Powerplay V1 is koto - foil - ayous - ayous - ayous - foil - koto. A very balanced blade indeed, moderately fast and stiff, really easy to control. A good blade to develop your game.

I've played with the old regular version before the senso versions were released. Awesome blade ! best all wood Koto blade in my opinion.

 

[damszelfly]

That's great that you've tried all 3. Sounds like you're a bit of a 7 ply connoisseur.

I'm pretty committed to my Fextras for a good while, but since the Chinese 7 plies are so cheap, what would be other models to try or upgrade to?

PD 537 is like Barwell at a fraction of the price and looks to be great value, but might be a little too fast and hard for me to handle as a beginner. Is there a more moderate upgrade from a softer Off- 7 ply like the Fextra somewhere in between? Trying to develop a two wing looping style (maybe more FH dominant) from mostly close distance.

Yes, I do like 7-ply blades 🤩 - somehow I feel more control with them compared to 5-ply blades. My first one was a TSP SWAT.

I have a few PD 537 S blades, and I can discover some deviance amongst them, mainly because of the different thicknesses of the top walnut plies. The ones with thinner plies have around 1350 Hz ball bounce frequency, while the ones with the thicker plies have over 1400 Hz and a somewhat crisper touch. The overall thickness is about 6.6mm.

While the PD 537 S became one of my favourites, I can say that it is less fault tolerant than Xiom Solo. If you want something fast, but with noticeably more fault tolerance, I'd go with Yinhe Uranus U3 (Limba top ply, even thicker at 6.8mm, but lower ball bounce frequency /mostly around 1260-1320 Hz/). For me, it is the go-to blade for trying harder Chinese rubbers. I have feedback from one of my contacts, that after switching to it, he had a significant match/rally performance improvement.

 

[ttarc]

I've played with the old regular version before the senso versions were released. Awesome blade ! best all wood Koto blade in my opinion.

Maybe the Avalox P500 but that wasn't available when I used my Powerplays It's a really good blend between 5-ply and 7-ply blades. Not as stiff and not as fast but not slow either although the frequency measurements are somewhere between 1250 Hz and 1300 Hz. That's just the damping (paper) foil...

 

[Trevize84]

Maybe the Avalox P500 but that wasn't available when I used my Powerplays It's a really good blend between 5-ply and 7-ply blades. Not as stiff and not as fast but not slow either although the frequency measurements are somewhere between 1250 Hz and 1300 Hz. That's just the damping (paper) foil...

View attachment 25327View attachment 25326

Avalox is producing a newer version of the P500 and P700 and looks like users are complaining that newer versions are pretty mediocre compared to the older ones.