Head to head

Kirschbaum Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) vs Wilson Sensation 16

Sensation 16 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is energy return, where Sensation 16 is 6 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25)

Nylon · 17 ga

Wilson

Sensation 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16634th pct
16937th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2225th pct
2122nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9378th pct
9384th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.518th pct
3.518th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41130th pct
0.41433rd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11781st pct
0.11781st 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 Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Sensation 16 at 49.7 lb 22.5 kg

Coming from Sensation 16 at 52 lb

String Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) at 54.2 lb 24.6 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.

Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) mains / Sensation 16 crosses

Stiffness34th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss24th pct · 1 measured
Energy return80th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential18th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite30th pct · 1 measured
String friction81st pct · 1 measured

Sensation 16 mains / Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness36th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss24th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential18th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite32nd pct · 1 measured
String friction81st 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.

Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25)

~33 hours of play

Sensation 16

~33 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) Nylon17find16622933.50.4110.117
Wilson Sensation 16 Nylon16$12.5016921933.50.4140.117

Add a third string Touch Multifibre 17 (1.25) in full Sensation 16 in full