The Amadeus is one of three of the Xiom's Novus Swedish series. They said that the wood construction of this blade is designed by the same person who designed Clipper Wood.
The 7 ply blade is made of Kiso Hinoki – Limba - Ayous - Ayous - Ayous – Limba - Kiso Hinoki at 6.2-6.3mm thickness.
The made and finishing of the blade is superb and very smooth. The only flaw I see is the cut on the logo on the handle is not very straight, but it's a very minuscule overlook.
If I were to rate it on the finishing/make of the blade, I would rate it at 99% (-1% for the finishing of the logo area).
The head is of compact size, the size according to Xiom's specification are: 152.5x148.5 while the handle are 100x34x24 for the FL (which I have). First thing I noticed when holding it was how nice and comfortable it is on my hand. The handle is wide and thick enough, about as good as my Hurricane blades FL handles. It's certainly wider and thicker than the Korbel FL & Wavestone FL handles which I also have. The head is about the same as my Wavestone blade.
The weight quoted for me is 89.5g but when I weighed it using my dad's weight for his medicines, it weighed at 90.2g. Close enough to the quoted weight.
The Amadues is rough on the sides of the head. I think partly because it's manufactured in Sweden. It's rough like Stiga blades, but unlike Stiga blades, there are no visible out of place wood grain or what-you-call-it small pieces of wood that aren't being fully sanded down. The Amadeus's roughness is visible but not like because of poor production steps but seems like it's done/left that way. You'll see the difference when you look at the close-up pictures of the side of the blades comparing the Amadeus with the Ignito.
I've been playing with this blade for about two weeks. Took me longer because the time spent wasn't quality times. When I was good stamina wise, only lower levels players were available to play with. And when there were same and higher level players around, I was too tired and stressed out because of works and the likes. The rubbers I put on the blade are: Hurricane 3 Provincial 39 degree and Sriver EL Maximum (like the Korbel setup). The H3P felt medium hard on the blade while the EL felt soft (too soft for my liking). I then switched the EL to Prasidha Tokyo 2, so they are the same rubbers as I have on the Hurricane King setup. I think the blade is better matched with medium to hard rubbers. EL is too soft for me, Tokyo 2 and Hurricane 3 Provincial 39 degree feels fine for me. But this is a matter of preference and habits I guess...
Okay, here's the very concise summary: I feel that the Amadeus is just about better than the Ignito I reviewed before on all aspects. If I were to choose one between the two, I would choose Amadeus right away. The Ignito is faster, and the fast loop kill I enjoyed doing with it, while it really impressed me, on all other factors, I think the Amadeus is better overall.(Read: better for my playing style.)
Now, here are the preliminary/first impressions I have on the blade:
First times I hit with it, I'm impressed with the good feel and the power of the blade. I feel that it's more powerful than the Ignito. I could go back farther away from the table and am not afraid of not getting the ball over the net. I don't even have to hit as hard as I could with it to land the ball on the other side.
The blade feels sharp/crisp (Ignito felt milder) while providing good amount of dwell time for me to impart good amount of spin on the ball. I feel the blade has higher throw than Ignito, lower throw than HK.
It's faster than my HK and somehow I feel that it generates less spin due to fastness and lightness feel of the blade overall. I used it once while training with my coach and when I told him that I feel I was generating less spin on the FH loops, my coach said that it's very spinny already. Maybe just my feeling that I could generate more spin on the HK. I feel more spin on the HK because of the longer dwell time on the HK and also the heft/substance feel I'm getting on the HK instead of the Amadeus. Also, I have to close the blade more while doing heavy/fast loops so that the ball doesn't go over the table. Same while blocking.
The Amadeus is actually heavier than my HK by a few grams despite of its smaller head size. This because of it's 7 plies blade compare to 5 plies of HK. But in play, it feels lighter and I could move faster with it than the HK. I still can't do fast loops with the HK. I mean, compared to Ignito and Amadeus, my fast loop kills using the HK is behind on speed (but I still feel more spin on the HK).
Amadeus vibrates less than HK and Korbel. After playing with Ignito, Amadeus, and HK, I feel that my Korbel vibration to be a bit too much and I'm disliking it a little bit more now.
Blocks are effortless, just a good amount of bounce. Bouncier than Ignito, but not hard to make short plays with it. I don't have problem on the shortplay with it. Shorter dwell time means less spin on the the chops on the table, but nothing to write home about. Chops away from the table is better on getting the spin due to the bigger and more powerful strokes.
I usually don't smash on FH, so I don't know how it does altering between loops and smashes. The few smashes on FH I did were good. Not blazing fast of course with the Hurricane rubber, but enough to win the point. I smash on the BH and even with soft sponge rubber like EL/Tokyo 2 (I feel the rubbers much softer on this blade than when I use the rubbers on Korbel), when I smash, it generates good speed and power. More than enough to make the kill.
Control is very good. I could make all kind of FH loops with ease and great placement all over the table. I'm now learning to do loops on the BH as well and when I used it on one of my training sessions I did better on my BH loops than with my HK. I mean, I have more percentage of IN balls while using it compared to my HK. The light feel helps because doing multi-balls training with the HK, my arm gets tired sooner and the stability of BH loops is effected. Partly because my muscle for the BH loops are not strong/trained enough just yet.
I'm having a hard time believing that the Amadeus is an All+ blade as specified by XIOM. I feel that it's faster and more powerful to be in the All+ category. I think Amadeus is faster and more powerful than the HK and the HK is not in any of the Allround categories.
I switched sides and used the Tokyo 2 on the FH and it felt great. Things are going faster, much faster, but still with great amount of control. I think for those playing with both Japanese/Eropean rubbers will be satisfied with the amount of speed and control of this blade. This is even without gluing.
For those who haven't played with Tokyo 2 rubber, I think it's somewhat similar with Bryce Speed FX on speed and spin ( I feel spinier for Tokyo 2). Less bouncy on the short play and better control over all.
Now, before you start accusing me of giving glowing reviews on XIOM blades, please bear in mind that the Ignito was my first XIOM blades to try and also my first expanded review so I might be a bit overzealous. Playing with the Amadeus I'm getting a slightly different feel. With Ignito I feel it's too light and I have to be on the aggressive and very light on my feet. I'm working on my footworks to be more agile and active, but I'm not there yet. Thus I like the stability of my HK the best for now. I don't feel like I have to rush, and I don't have to exert more energy on shots. Also, I play a bit away from the table while the Ignito excels closer to the table. Amadeus is between the two so I feel better playing with it than the Ignito.
Overall I'm more at ease and comfortable playing with this compared to the Ignito.
Well, that's it for now.
Comments and questions are welcome. I'm holding the blade a few more days for questions and answers. Meanwhile, I'm sending Aria, Fuga, and Jazz to Peter tomorrow morning so he can get started with them. I'll be sending the Ignito & Amadeus at the end of the week to him.
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