The best sets of pool balls

Are you one of those who pay attention to the design of the billiard balls or do you conform if they just roll? There are billiard players that if they do not compete with the Aramith Pro Cup are not calm and others are already good to play with the cheapest ball game in the market. As part of the first group of billiards geeks of quality material, in today's post I make a review of the best sets of billiard balls. They are expensive, but they are nice. Let's go there.

Aramith Pro Cup TV (195€ in Poolmania)

 The balls set per excellence in Europe and much of the world. The Belgian company Aramith dominates the market for billiard balls and this set is one of its great attractions. Pro Cup TVs are used in most European tournaments and are designed to make the colors look good in televised matches. The big difference of this set with respect to the Aramith Pro is that the 4/12 is not lilac but pink and that the 7/14 has a lighter brown tone.

Aramith Tournament TV (323’17$ en Seyberts)

Why are these 100 euros more expensive than those used at Eurotours and other professional tournaments? Because they are designed to last longer and reduce the marks on the cloth thanks to "Duramith" technology. According to the Belgian manufacturer, they last up to eight times more than most balls made with polyester or phenolic resin. At the design level they differ from the Aramith Pro by the black circle surrounding the ball number. You can also find the "standard" set cheaper (219€) with the four balls lilac in Poolmania here.

 Brunswick Centennial (479,00 in Brunswick)

A classic of the German brand that also manufactures bowling balls. This game maintains the traditional colors but adds a distinctive: the white background of the numbers on the striped balls. Note that unlike the Aramith, the Brunswick have more white color around the numbers. They are made with high quality phenolic resin so that the colors and numbers are not erased.

Cyclop TV Edition (200$ in Seyberts)

And here is the Chinese manufacturer that is eating the toast to the traditional European brands of billiard balls. Cyclop is another great ball set widely used in Asia and for several years also in the United States. In fact, the company has an agreement with Diamond and CSI International which is the official set of balls for many American tournaments. As explained on this interview by a manager of Cyclop, they are denser and contain more phenolic resin than the rest and for this reason they sound a little different and after the impact react faster. In Europe they are still not used so much and many of us still confuse the 6/14 and 7/15 (they are blue and light green instead of dark green and brown). It will be a matter of getting used to it as we did with the rose of Aramith. For those who do not get used to the pastel tones, there is also the set with classic colors.

After playing many years with Aramith, I really want to try Cyclops. In design they are very similar but they must have a special touch. For any reason the pros like Darren Appleton like it so much.

 And you, which set of balls do you like better? Which is your favorite?