Head to head
Kirschbaum Max Power 16 (1.30) vs Kirschbaum Max Power 18 (1.20)
They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Max Power 18 (1.20) is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.
Measured, side by side
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.
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Max Power 16 (1.30)156th
Max Power 18 (1.20)132nd
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Max Power 16 (1.30)580th
Max Power 18 (1.20)583rd
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Max Power 16 (1.30)136th
Max Power 18 (1.20)124th
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Max Power 16 (1.30)387th
Max Power 18 (1.20)450th
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Max Power 16 (1.30)188th
Max Power 18 (1.20)228th
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Max Power 16 (1.30)97th
Max Power 18 (1.20)50th
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Max Power 16 (1.30)363rd
Max Power 18 (1.20)412th
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 Max Power 16 (1.30) at 52 lb
String Max Power 18 (1.20) at 53.6 lb 24.3 kg
Coming from Max Power 18 (1.20) at 52 lb
String Max Power 16 (1.30) at 50.5 lb 22.9 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.
Max Power 16 (1.30) mains / Max Power 18 (1.20) crosses
Max Power 18 (1.20) mains / Max Power 16 (1.30) crosses
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.
Max Power 16 (1.30)
~34 hours of play
Max Power 18 (1.20)
~33 hours of play
Both strings in full
| String | Gauge | Price | Stiff lb/in | Loss % | Power % | Spin | Bite COF | Friction COF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirschbaum Max Power 16 (1.30) Polyester | 16 | find | 233 | 21 | 90 | 5.9 | 0.460 | 0.078 |
| Kirschbaum Max Power 18 (1.20) Polyester | 18 | find | 226 | 22 | 89 | 6.1 | 0.491 | 0.080 |
Add a third string Max Power 16 (1.30) in full Max Power 18 (1.20) in full