Place of purchase: private

   Date of purchase: 2001

   Warranty: used

   Price: N/A

   Equipment:

electronic tension head, 2 point mounting, 2 360 degree swivel clamps, upright stand.

   Experiences:

I purchased the Neos 2000 barely used. The machine is pretty heavy and had to be disassembled to move it. I previously used an Ektelon H. I have no desire to string on the Ektelon after making the switch, but I keep the old machine around as a backup. I have to admit that I string more slowly on the 2000, probably because it is so large. After purchasing modified string clamp levers (rollers replace cams) I find the string clamps to be excellent although I think they would be even better with a diamond dust coating. The tension head runs smooth and has the capability of pulling in either constant pull or lockout mode. It is self calibrating and is capable of prestretching too but I have never used the feature. Since day one I have had intermittent bearing noise problems which was common to the model, but I find by keeping the pull speed moderate and not leaving any slack in the string when I begin tensioning that I am able to avoid it. I suppose that this contributes to the overall slowness I mentioned before.
The 2000 was discontinued after a mere 200 or so units were produced. Pricing apparently was the problem. I suspect that all existing machines have a problem with their tensioning jaws as it is hard to imagine that my machine is alone in this regard. I experienced a considerable number of stringings with premature string breakage. I even had string breakage problems while stringing, which for me with 20 years experience was a complete surprise. I finally disassembled the tensioning jaws and had them ground down by a machinist to remove the knurling on the gripping face. This cured the problem. Here is my understanding of the problem. When the knurling is machined into the jaw faces, the metal is relatively soft and the surface is completely flat. The piece is then case hardened (superheated and rapidly cooled) and this causes the piece to become somewhat concave. As a result, the outer edges which have sharp knurled surfaces make the strongest contact, and actually pinch and cut the string during tensioning. You can verify this by disassembling the jaws and checking the gripping surface with a straight edge. Be careful not to lose any ball bearings or springs when the jaws come apart. Judging by the reviews I have read here, I would not be surprised to hear that the Babolat Sensor has a similar problem.