[Disclaimer: I am neither affiliated to Tennisman or Xpider in any way nor do I receive any money or other incentives to write this.]
Following up on this post
https://www.badmintoncentral.com/fo…or-new-stringing-machine.191566/#post-2876883
I felt it’s easiest to start a separate thread for this tension head motor which is supposed to be available by the end of March 2024. And also because I’m quite confident that it will receive some attention in the stringing community and this is a perfect place to gather user feedback and reviews.
First of all, a big shout out to @Tennisman Dirk for sending me this protoype unit to check it out in detail. It still shows some minor bugs in the software which I’m told will be sorted out with the first mass production batch, so I won’t dive into this any further.
Some facts to start this:
The Ennoxx is the second “non-WISE” generation of tension heads that Tennisman is offering with their StringMaster machines. The first one (https://www.tennisman.de/Weiteres/B…Motor-A01-Motor-fuer-Besaitungsmaschinen.html) was manufactured in China whereas the Ennoxx is built in Taiwan by Xpider. As some might know, Xpider is also the OEM for the StringMaster branded machines. It will replace the 1st Gen heads completely for all upcoming StringMaster shipments.
The Ennoxx will also be offered as an add-on unit to fit on drop weight and crank machines (which is a significant upgrade compared to the A01. The prototype didn’t come with the needed mounting brackets, anyone interested in how the mounting should work, please have a look in the manual:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dCngJ-eUyJHCeYh2xrR0e3Narx0O7jZs&usp=drive_fs
Pricing is supposed to stay the same for both tension heads (https://www.tennisman.de/Weiteres/B…or-Ennoxx-Motor-fuer-Besaitungsmaschinen.html).
For reference, the WISE comes in at around 200 EUR less, but needs an extra mounting plate and doesn’t have the glide-to-activate gripper module. If you add both, the WISE arrives at around the exact same pricing as the Ennoxx.
I’ve been using the 1st gen Tennisman tension head on my StringMaster Deluxe for about a year now which puts me in the position to compare both. And since I’ve only done one racket with the Ennoxx yet, let’s just start by showing you some pictures (click to enlarge):
As you can see, the footprint of the Ennoxx is a bit bigger. The overall design looks more more sleek, it has a bigger display with a better resolution and more contrast. Overall built quality just appears to be slightly better on the Ennoxx.
Let’s look at the gripper modules in detail:
Both are very nicely done and massiv af and come with a glide-to-activate feature. The plates on both move smooth as silk. So I wouldn’t put one above the other tbh.
As soon as you put the Ennoxx on the StringMaster, you immediately feel the connection. They both are made for each other:
And let me end this first post with a speed comparison clip (both set to maximum speed):
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The A01 wins by a whisker. Both are running smoothly with a very similar noise level – not a big surprise since both are chain driven.
I will add further information and maybe some more video clips over the next couple of days or weeks. Stay tuned.