Head to head

Gamma ESP 16 vs Gamma Live Wire XP 16

Live Wire XP 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where ESP 16 is 22 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

ESP 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Gamma

Live Wire XP 16

Nylon/Zyex · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15822nd pct
15720th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2741st pct
2534th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9490th pct
9493rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
2.65th pct
2.65th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41936th pct
0.38415th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.15995th pct
0.15094th pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from ESP 16 at 52 lb

String Live Wire XP 16 at 52.0 lb 23.6 kg

Coming from Live Wire XP 16 at 52 lb

String ESP 16 at 52.0 lb 23.6 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

ESP 16 mains / Live Wire XP 16 crosses

Stiffness21st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss38th pct · 1 measured
Energy return91st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential5th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite32nd pct · 1 measured
String friction94th pct · 1 measured

Live Wire XP 16 mains / ESP 16 crosses

Stiffness20th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return92nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential5th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction94th pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

ESP 16

~28 hours of play

Live Wire XP 16

~30 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma ESP 16 Nylon16find15827942.60.4190.159
Gamma Live Wire XP 16 Nylon/Zyex16$12.5915725942.60.3840.150

Add a third string ESP 16 in full Live Wire XP 16 in full