Apacs Virtuoso 66 Rainbow

Hey guys,

I discovered today apacs strings. As a stringer I'm always curious about new strings, especially new colours. The Virtuoso 66 Rainbow looks really stunning, but the specs sounds also great. Too good to be true:

-0.66 gauge
-hard feel
-rough surface
-tension holding
-made in Japan

Did anybody tried it?



I ordered a few from UK today together with some ZM 69 Fire. Maybe somebody like to share his experiences. If it arrives I will update and write a detailed review. Hope it will true that it can be strung up to 32lbs. Fingers crossed.

 

Did you ever weaved black strings during the night, because your club mate needed his rackets for a tournament at 7am? That cooks your eyes, too.
I hope they arrive before wednesday. So I can review the string performance. Otherwise I can only review stringing or must use human trafficking to visit a different club to test the performance.:crying:

 

I wouldn't buy a reel, regardless how cheap of a string which I never tried and don't read any review. Buy 2 sets and try them. One set with your go-to tension and if you need some adjustment you can string a second racket higher.

 

Ok, you have won. My eyes are english and yours are well done.

 

No problem, dude. Can compare it with BG80, BG80 Power and VS850. Never tried the Gosen. Can't wait to hit my club with this rainbow on one of my BS10's. Just for the show off.

 

First impressions

Yesterday I received a package from DB with 4 sets of Apacs Virtuoso 66 Rainbow and some other stuff.



The package is well made and I don't have the impression that I got a cheap string. IMO the package looks great. Far better than YY 10m sets.



You see a small part of the multicoloured string though a small window in the package. I think I have a really nice and highclass product in my hands.



On the back you can see a rating of the string and a small description. The rating:

Repulsion 9/10
Sound 8/10
Tension Life 9/10
Control/Feel 10/10
Durability 9/10

To be honest I have never seen a string with anything lower than 6, so this rating is IMO really worthless and a random rating. Time will tell how I will judge these aspects.
According to Apacs this string can be strung up to 35lbs! I will never proof this, because it's higher than my used tension.



I opened one package to examine the string. According to DB it should have a rough surface. I gave the string several runs through my finger tips and was disappointed. This string is not rough. I compared it with my go to (BG80 Power), NBG99 and BG65TI. I wouldn't rate this string as slippery, but it's not as rough as BG80 Power. I would rate it as something between NBG99 and BG65TI, but closer to NBG99 than to BG65TI.
The colours are bright and nicely faded into each other. You can read the letters on the string clearly. No blurred letters like on Zymax strings.

Time to string. I expected that this string will be easy to string. I cutted a worn out string of one of my Braves Sword 10's and started to string. I use normally BG80Power at 30/30. I know that a thinner string will need 1lbs less, but I decided to go for a 30/30 bottom up job to compare it directly with my loved BG80Power which will be the benchmark for upcoming testing. A smooth 0.66 string should be a stringer's dream. I can't say that it was easy as NBG98, but no problems. This string seems pretty elastic. I watched how this string stretched and stretched and stretched like bubble gum or BG65 when my machine pulled it. I recommend to manual prestrech this string before to remove the slack.
As I started to weave the cross and pulled the strings I got the feeling like I were on LSD. This cooked my eyes well done.
I finished the job without breaking it, no slippage on the clamps and everything was fine. I catched my smartphone to ping the strings. 1364Hz! Sounds good. Tomorrow I will have a 2.5 hours training session to see how this string performs. I gave it a small try in my living room and did some serves and hold the shuttle high. The sound is impressive! Sounds like a very loud string. Let's see tomorrow how it performs...

 

After 24 hours this string dropped to 1262 Hz! 102Hz in 24hours without playing it. I think that after the hoax with rough surface we can mark off tension holding, too. I'm not amused. This evening I will see how this string performs, but especially the rough surface and tension holding were the aspects which were the most important ones beside the fancy colours which were just a nice gimmick. My Bg80 Power dropped only 85Hz after 5 days include two 3hours sessions.

 

I'm back from training. My first impression are mixed. I was right. It's a loud string. This string gives a really nice banging sound. Some of my mates noticed this string immediately and started to me ask questions about this string. If you want attention this string is right for you. I didn't any drills today, so I can't analyse each shot and aspect yet. I try my best to work it it on wednesday. In terms of power this string offers a lot of repulsion. I did really tight and accurate dropshots with it. The feel is difficult to describe in a good manner. IMO it's a medium+ string. No soft feeling like NBG98. But not a hard one like Bg80Power. Bg80Power feels a bit harder IMO and the feedback from BG80Power is IMO a tiny bit nicer for my liking. Maybe this string needs a break in period. I wasn't familiar with this string when I did sliced shots. Maybe I need some time to get used to it. Especially at the net I strungled a bit. My crosscourt and spinning net shots weren't accurate. Not a good sign. I will play tomorrow and do training on wednesday. Maybe I play on Thursday and I train 100% on friday. I give this string some time until upcoming sunday. At the end I must say that it's a far better string than NBG98.