[bmoney6543]

Originally Posted by mass destruction

Agreed. Won my spire in a tournament and have been trying to sell my rotor ever since.

I've used all three of the "super-loaders" (z2, rotor, spire) pretty extensively and the spire is definitely the best, mostly because it's solved weaknesses present in the rotor and prophecy and retains both of their strengths.

It feeds reballs as well as a prophecy does, and jams far less than my rotor (which was a v3 and always had fresh batteries) did. It is also much more durable than the prophecy, and i'd argue for that matter that it's slightly more durable than the rotor because i've seen several rotors come in half, and there's almost no way of this happening to the spire unless you decide to take out the screws holding the halves together, (which there is no reason to do) and dont tighten them properly.

The spire also weighs less than a rotor and about the same as a prophecy, but has a lower profile than either. It also holds a little more than both, and is easier to take apart and clean. Its also really easy to change back and forth between the speedfeed and lid, which is more of a strength of the spire over the rotor than the prophecy, which is also pretty easy.

Those are just my thoughts. I don't think that the spire is the be all and end all of hopper technology, but just from having used all three I don't see any reason to either use my rotor or miss my z2 other than that the speedfeed isnt impressive.

Good post very informative. I play with a rotor now, but it has been a few years think I'm going to make the jump to the spire.

[Darkwynn]

This is a good post. How is the spire on battery life?

[rkenders]

I have 2 rotors and they have yet to let me down. Solid performance, well built, cleans up super easy, ridiculously long battery life. Can't beat the Rotor!!! I have yet to even see a Spire in person so I can't say anything about it. While I love Empire in general...not overly impressed with the Z2 except for the magnets on the lid. Do that to the Rotor and it would be perfect.

[Super69ur]

z2 s front shell can come off while in the feedneck of the gun.

[Ninfofan]

I've Tried the rotor a couple of times, never owned one and I did liked it while I was using it, However the moment I put a Z2 on my gun I loved everything about it (looks, weight, easy disassemble/cleaning) and I have never had a single jam. I still have to test the spire out, but I really don't like the way it looks, to me it looks like the cockpit of an Hydroplane xD

[tboat001]

I have used all three. They are all good. I use the Z2 and the Rotor mainly for woods ball. The Spire works great for speed ball but falls well short in the woods. The flat tray in the spire feeds balls nice when its flat or more than half full. It feeds balls to the right side. Quick snap shots out of the left side of a bunker is fine. Sustaining shots tilted to the left again only work if it is half full or better. Whats the point in extra paint capacity if you need to keep it half full or better all the time? I have also seen, not experienced, many spires jam at EPL events.

[Super69ur]

I own a Prophecy Z2, a Rotor, and this Spire. There is a few reasons why I choose to use the Spire every time I'm playing. My Z2 is my backup. Rotor is my loaner.

Before I continue, I honestly think you can't go wrong with any of the 3 loaders in my review. They are all durable. (trust me I beat them up good) They will all feed 12.5 BPS with ease and offer many many games of quiet, trouble-free performance, *most* of the time.

Spire has the tendency of spinning/pulsing a while at the beginning of the game when trying to get a stack with tension. I just lowered the tension setting until this stopped. It also has a tendency to have difficulty loading the last 5 balls in your hopper, if you ever get that low on paint. Easily remedied by reloading.

Other then that, there are literally NO drawbacks to this hopper when compared to the other two hoppers I mentioned at the top.
- Lighter than a Rotor, and close to the Z2 in weight. (maybe even lighter)
- Holds more paint than either of the other two.
- Lower profile than either of the other two.
- Faster than a Rotor to strip (a worthy feat) and WAAAY faster than a Z2 to strip
- Easy as pie to clean once stripped. (3 parts, 2 of which you can dunk in water)
- Never jams, unlike rotors. (Rotors don't jam alot, but more often than Spire or Z2)
- Never blends paint, unlike Z2's. (The fins on the drive tray are pretty sharp, and have caused me problems)
- Bigger reload opening than Rotor. (About same as Z2)
- Switching from solid lid to speed feed is easiest out of all 3 loaders.
- The CrownSF speedfeed is literally the best available on the market, and is proprietary to this loader for now.
- Battery life comparable to a Rotor, which is much better than a Z2. (plus, uses one less AA battery)

[tixwon]

Hey all. I'm new to the game and was just thinking about these 3 hoppers. Thanks for all the input, but I've been a little confused at how the "sound activation" feature works. Wouldn't the spire just consistently whine/make sounds when the environment is "loud"? sorry if it sounds like a newb question.