My AT900T review

Discussion in 'Racket Recommendation / Comparison' started by aikakira, Jan 11, 2008.

  1. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    Hey people,

    Firstly I want to note that i'm not anywhere near proffessional level, just enjoy the sport and really addicted haha!The things I say may not be what you think personally and may have a different opinion but this is just a little review that I hope may help some other people, even though this racket has already been out for so long!

    The spec of my racket:

    Model: Armortec 900 Technique SP (4UG4)
    Strings: BG 68Ti (25 lbs)
    Grip: Yonex wet grip (Plastic was not removed)

    Why I chose this racket:

    Well firstly.. the paint work is so attractive to me haha!! There are a lot of minor details which really makes the racket what it is (I'm so scared I'd chip the paint work im constantly checking the racket haha!). Secondly, I personally prefer playing technique shots than powerful smashes.

    My string choice:

    I chose BG 68Ti because its a powerful string, looking through the string ranges, the price seems acceptable and delivers what I personally need or what the racket lacks. It gives good replusion and good hitting sound which compensates for the rackets lack of power so it balances it out alittle more (personally theory ^^) but that also means losing the durability. The stringer told me that at the rate im playing at, the string should snap within 2 weeks, quite a painful fact to me and my wallet haha. Then why I chose stringing the racket at 25lbs, it's because I wanted to see what it feels like to string a racket at higher tension since I've tried stringing my older rackets with lower tensions ranging from 18 - 23lbs.

    Racket During Play:

    The armortec 900 technique really surprised my expectations, it is so easy to control, it flows very well with my body and also goes where ever I want it to so quickly. I've used the whole range of Carbonex series, Nanospeed 9000S, Head Metallic (75grams in weight, very light racket), Armortec 900 Power and other random rackets but none of them bonded with me like this one. I would personally say that this racket is very user friendly indeed!
    When I play with this racket, I can get to the birdie much faster than any other racket I've used in the past, the swing is much easily, flow is much smoother. Receiving smashes is almost a major advantage now due to all these factors, before I was only able to return the birdie past the net like a drop shot but now I can do whatever I feel like with minimal effort, placing, changing directions, everything.
    How about smashing? Well, i'm not personally a smasher, my smash is very average or below average but for some reason, my smash has improved. I can now jump smash more powerfully than I had been doing before, I believe this improvement is from the rackets easy control, timing the smash has become so much more easier. This may seem weird to a lot of people on this forum but it's what I feel. Stringing the racket with BG 68Ti did help with the power making my smash much more of a threat. Now I really enjoy jump smashing! ^^

    Final Words:

    The AT900T is a great racket in my opinion, but you really need to bond with it like any racket, I believe that theres a racket which will suit you best and you will have to take time to find it. Luckily I have found mine and it's has bonded with me so well, I think my heart will shatter if the strings broke nevermind the racket haha! The only downside to the racket, is the price, in many countries and websites you can't really get a price below 100 GBP. For me, I bought it from Hong Kong for 1180 HKD and since GBP is so strong, the racket only cost around 80 GBP when I bought it from a yonex retailer. Your liking to a racket does make a difference to your play, if you love your racket you will bond with it better giving you better performance, very psychological haha!
    Like most people on this forum say, the racket is probably one of the last things you will buy because it only gives you slight improvement on your skills.

    I hope my little experience with this racket will help people choose the right racket!

    feel free to ask me any questions, I'll do the best to help you!! :)
     
  2. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    Nice review! :)
     
  3. Smichz

    Smichz Regular Member

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    Good review..n nice combinations with the 68ti.How's the feeling?
     
  4. drifit

    drifit newbie

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  5. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    Hahaha I understand there have been lots of 4U rackets been damaged, making people quite negative to buying this range. In the end, I believe that your personal skill can avoid such incidents, even though that minor percentage of accident will occur. If you really like your racket you will be careful with it. Besides! I have a years garantee on it lol ^^

    AT900T is a great racket and will be for a long time! ^^:D
     
  6. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    haha! Thank you!! ^^

    It feels really amazing, when you hit the birdie the sound is very focussed, the power transfers very easily in my opinion, with little effort I can do a good smash, might not be fast but it is good enough to win a point.

    The best thing is, the AT900T has a bigger sweet spot than the Nanospeed 9000S (just a tad bigger) making me more accurate when hitting shots, theres less mishitting and less metal contact haha! ^^
     
  7. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    Thank you!! I'll write more if you like! Tell me the racket you want to know about, I'll see what I can do haha ^^

    Thank you again!
     
    #7 aikakira, Jan 11, 2008
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2008
  8. Ar Dan

    Ar Dan Regular Member

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    If you think BG68Ti is good... wait till you try BG85 / Nanogy 98 :D
     
  9. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    Haha they more pricey you see, but obviously I will try it sometime ^^, I have tried Nanology 95, it doesn't really give me any special feeling whilst 68Ti is power and sound, very soothing!! hehee:)
     
  10. Ar Dan

    Ar Dan Regular Member

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    there's quite a bit of differnce between NBG95 and NBG98, try it when you get the chance and you'll see what i'm talking about.
     
  11. Keios

    Keios Regular Member

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    i used to use bg68ti but it can't handle high tensions very well, have a look at bg 80. the reason i say this is if you look at the back of the string pack, the bg80 scores 5 bars out of 5 in for hard hitting, 4 out of 5 for control whilst for bg68ti it is 0 bars out of 5 for hard hitting and 5 out of 5 for control.

    The control is not much different between the two strings but the durability and repulsion is better on the bg80, plus it seems more durable too.
     
  12. otterfun

    otterfun Regular Member

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    tried a NGB98 (Japan) strung at 25# on a AT900T.

    compared to the BG80 strung at 25# for Cab 30MS, MP21, and Armortec 300 that I played with today, the NGB 98 on the AT900T is fresh, more alive and crisp sound. The repulsion is livelier than that of BG80. The shock absorption of the NGB98 on AT900T is better that then BG80 on the Armortex 300.

    But for the price, BG80 is a very close alternative.
    If cost is not an issue, then NGB98 is a must-try.
     
  13. weeyeh

    weeyeh Regular Member

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    It's not very surprising given that the NBG98 is a thinner string but you sound more like comparing NBG98 against the BG80. How you will rate the AT900T against the Cab30.

    We will certainly get more datapoints when you get the AT900T on BG80 (may take a long time given that the NBG is supposed to be extremely durable :p) or the Cab30 on NBG98 (sounds likely :p). I'd love to try the NBG98 on my Cab30 but it is quite expensive to use that for string tension experiments. I'm using BG66 at 25# on my Cab30 and loving it to death.
     
  14. aikakira

    aikakira Regular Member

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    hahaha don't worry! once I have snapped the BG 68Ti I will move onto BG 80 then NBG98 ^^

    my BG 68Ti is holding out pretty well ^___^

    hopefully it will last sometime!!
     
  15. Joe P

    Joe P Regular Member

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    Hi,

    Nice review. I've also just acquired the AT-900T recently (3U), also strung with BG-68Ti, and have fallen in love with it. It's heavier than what I'm used to so my arm was a little sore initially, but now that I'm used to it, I don't think I will go back to my other AT racquets. The control is great, and the power I'm getting now is something I haven't been getting with my previous racquets in the AT range (all 4u).

    Great racquet and suits my game perfectly! Two thumbs up for me. :)

    Joe P.
     
  16. otterfun

    otterfun Regular Member

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    NBG98 sounds louder and higher pitch, at least from my perspective as racket holder.
    Cab30ms still beats the AT900T in terms of sweetness when you hit it right.
    AT900T feels similar stiffness as Cab30ms.
    AT900T feels more mobile with net play and feels lighter (smoother, more aerodynamic) to move around the net than Cab30ms
     
  17. Matt

    Matt Regular Member

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    I do not believe you mean to say that the sound does sound higher in pitch because it is, that means the strings are not at the same equivalent tension when the string resonates. In terms of music, if both strings resonates as C#, that means both have the same equivalent tension, however if one is C and the other is C#, then it's not equivalent tension because one has a higher sound pitch.

    I think what you mean to say is that the NGB98 has more of a metallic ping sound and does sort of sound ear piercing at times.

    Aww, so you didn't go with Arc7?!?!?
     
    #17 Matt, Jan 14, 2008
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2008
  18. otterfun

    otterfun Regular Member

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    No, not Arc7, have to find a friend with that ; )

    According to another suggestion, I was told that in order to have a "fair" comparison, I need the NGB at 27.5 Lb to equate to a BG80 at 25#. So is it possible that the sound difference is due to the tension difference since 25# for NGB98 is not equivalent to 25# for BG80.

    But I do agree that : "the NGB98 has more of a metallic ping sound and does sort of sound ear piercing at times."
     
  19. Matt

    Matt Regular Member

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    Normally as a general concept - for thinner strings, it pull tighter and lose tension faster and for thicker strings, it stretch more and hold tension better. It terms of tension equivalency/sound pitch, the thicker string would need to be pulled at a higher tension to factor in the stretch match that of the thinner string. Lets just say for an example, 2 of the same racket one has NGB95 and the other has 98. The 95 is stringed at 26 and 98 would be stinged at 24.

    I have read taneepak's reply. I am not quite sure if it is quite accurate in terms of the tension equivalency unless he can confirm that the sound pitches are exactly or at least sound the same. I do know that the BG80 does pull tighter compared to other 0.68mm strings because it does have Vectran so it could be correct that this string in this particular case does pull tigher than a 0.66mm string at the same tension.
     

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