Coming off owning a 2012 Hoyt Carbon Element for a short time my expectations were high for this bow. I expected silent, light, vibration free and somewhat smooth bow. The appearance is something I will have to get use to considering the drastic styling changes for the new carbon bows. The riser looks quite different than the previous generation riser. I like it, I think. The finish looks good as well. I thought the last generation had flaws and it was pretty normal to find a flaw here and there on them. The new ones do not have the flaws in the finish that I recall on the previous generation. Staying with the light weight strong riser, this one is also light. It is noticeably well balanced. If anything, it wanted to rock backwards holding the bow up at rest. The grip is much improved in my opinion. It has a more precise feel than the rubber style grips. I really liked the way it felt. The draw is smooth. It is a more balanced draw than the RKT cams that were really stiff feeling from the start. The new cams seem to be pretty even all the way to the valley. There is a slight hump at the end but, smoothly rolls over as it drops off. The valley isn’t too deep nor to shallow. It’s a good median. You can relax some without the bow ripping your shoulder out of socket. At the same time it doesn’t feel like you have to push your arrow forward to get it to let down. Having to let down in the stand with this bow should be pretty effortless. The back wall is as solid as most of today’s bows that have draw stops. It is a positive feel with no spongy feel at all. The let off feels fine. I wouldn’t have any issues holding at full draw for an extended period of time if needed. The hold felt as though it would be right in line with any other short ATA bow out there. Held decent but, not as a longer ATA bow would. I wouldn’t go shooting an open class 3D with it. Out in the back yard, it wouldn’t be out of the question a good archer could hang right in there with the best of them. On release of the shot, I did not expect what I received. I expected solid, silent release. What happened was some vibration and more noise than I would have thought. Now is this saying that the bow was loud? Not by a long shot. It was still quiet just not as quiet as I thought. The vibration was not something that could not be taken care of with a stabilizer. After all, I do shoot most of the bows I test bare bow with only a rest on it. All in all, I believe it would make a great hunting bow. With specs of: ATA: 30” FPS (ATA): 332 BH: 6-3/4” and a mass weight of 3.6lb, this should make some happy hunters.
Good review. I felt the same way except i thought this was the quietest bow ive ever not heard. Ive shot a huge variety of bows new and old, and wow does this one blow them all away. With a good set of string silencers and my other damping accessories i expect my CS34 to not even be audible. The new Z5 cams are awesome
Interesting review. Though the Carbon Spyder I shot had probably the least amount of vibration of any bow I've ever shot - ever. While doing the 1 finger on the riser test I had what I would describe as almost zero vibration after the shot. If you listen carefully the AirSHOX do make a slight tick when they slap the limbs - but I'll live with that nominal sound for the vibration reduction. The Z5 cam is a winner for sure!
Did you shoot the Prime Impact? I thought (until another bow I shot this year) was the deadest, vibe free bow I have ever shot. It was more dead than the Spyder 30.
The CS34 as with most I the longer bows will probably have a tendency to be a little quieter and have less vibe from my experiences.
No, I haven't. Though I have shot a few other Prime bows in the past and I did think they shot VERY well... So it wouldn't surprise me that the Impact is a shooter too!
I really want a new bow, but the Charger I picked up at Buck Stop Archery last spring keeps getting the job done. If I can find a shop that buys used I might find myself upgrading once the season is over.
Ive been really interested in the 2014 carbon spyders, i think i would like the turbo. I like the tad longer ata at 33" i think that would be perfect. I dont care about the few extra fps. Would be nice if they made a 33" ata carbon bow but with a longer brace hight. 6 is ok, but would rather have the 6 3/4 the other hoyt bows usually have. The carbon spyder 34 would be nice too, but 34 seems to long for me personally and the 30 deff to short. Just my opinion. Good review. I hope to get to shoot a few arrows with the CS turbo.
