Brunswick Centennials or Aramith Tournaments?

jviss

jviss

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What's better? I confess the Centennials have a lot of appeal for me, and seem like the "right" balls for my Gold Crown table. But, I'd really like to know which are better, will hold up better, maybe play better? They're not too far apart in price; best I've found so far is $336 for the Centennials, $356 for the Tournaments.

Input, opinions, experiences most welcome!
 
jviss said:
What's better? I confess the Centennials have a lot of appeal for me, and seem like the "right" balls for my Gold Crown table. But, I'd really like to know which are better, will hold up better, maybe play better? They're not too far apart in price; best I've found so far is $336 for the Centennials, $356 for the Tournaments.

Input, opinions, experiences most welcome!
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IIRC the Tournament's are made with their latest Duramith resin. Harder compound for less ball burn marks. Both are great balls. Centennial is best looking for sure.
 
jviss said:
What's better? I confess the Centennials have a lot of appeal for me, and seem like the "right" balls for my Gold Crown table. But, I'd really like to know which are better, will hold up better, maybe play better? They're not too far apart in price; best I've found so far is $336 for the Centennials, $356 for the Tournaments.

Input, opinions, experiences most welcome!
Click to expand...
The two best sets on the market – you can’t go wrong with either. IMO, the biggest difference is the cue balls. Unless they’ve improved it, the Blue Circle Centennial retains/shows chalk marks much worse than the black logo Aramith Tournament cue ball. Which of the two sets is best looking is certainly subjective opinion. Personally I think the colors on the Duramith Tournament balls are a little brighter.
 
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jviss said:
What's better? I confess the Centennials have a lot of appeal for me, and seem like the "right" balls for my Gold Crown table. But, I'd really like to know which are better, will hold up better, maybe play better? They're not too far apart in price; best I've found so far is $336 for the Centennials, $356 for the Tournaments.

Input, opinions, experiences most welcome!
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Duramith Tournament - I retired my Centennials, crisper colors, whiter white, better looking.
 
As others say, both are great and you can not go wrong with either. They are the two best made. I second the comment about the blue spot cue ball that arrives with the Centennials. I rotate cue balls after every few racks so that I am always playing with consistently clean and polished cue ball. I polish the old ball when I rotate a new one in. I rotate between the blue circle, two Aramith red circle, and one "Measles" ball by Aramith. The blue circle that came with my Centennials is CLEARLY the least favorite for exactly the reasons mentioned above. My Centennials are over 20 years old and look as beautiful as the day I got them with a good cleaning every few months. That said, I see that "Ideologist" above is offering a "Like New" set of Centennials at less than half price. Given the quality and longevity of these balls, THAT is what I would buy because they are going to perform for as long as you own your table.

Also, please let us know what you finally choose! :-)
 
I've played with these Tournaments for a little over a year. Compare them to the Centennial below. It's possible the new Centennials are higher quality, but the graphics, durability and color of the older ones can't compare to the Tournaments. I expect these to last a lifetime with proper care.


tournament versus centennial.jpg
 
TATE said:
I've played with these Tournaments for a little over a year. Compare them to the Centennial below. It's possible the new Centennials are higher quality, but the graphics, durability and color of the older ones can't compare to the Tournaments. I expect these to last a lifetime with proper care.


View attachment 584938
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We are using Tournament balls at the club, they are excellent
 
Tourn ball set and Tour TV ball set. Are the balls the same construction other than the color? Are they the same ball?
 
GoldCrown said:
Tourn ball set and Tour TV ball set. Are the balls the same construction other than the color? Are they the same ball?
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All three Tourn balls are same: Tourn., Tourn. TV and Black. Same Duramith resin. Tourn. Black has its own black-spot measel cueball.
 
lfigueroa said:
I have several sets of pool balls.

But for the last year or so I've been taking the Centennials to the pool room. The other day I played a guy, maybe in his late 20's, some 1pocket and afterwards he asks me, "BTW, what kind of balls are those?"

Lou Figueroa
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He gets points for noticing.

When I was first learning to play, I ran into three kinds of balls. My friend's home table (Sears) had some kind of softer plastic balls. The student rec center had standard Hyatt phenolics. The pool hall had Centennials. The pool hall also had blue cloth and Willie Hoppe house cues. Even a beginner could see the difference. At that point I was happy to play with any of them, but I sure liked the pool hall better. A little later I even got to play with clay balls.

As for the OP, either is fine, and as long as you don't have exposed nails in the pockets or a concrete floor, they should last forever.
 
The last set of centennials I bought were hell to keep clean once the new car shine was gone.
 
JC said:
The last set of centennials I bought were hell to keep clean once the new car shine was gone.
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I’ve got numerous virtually new sets of both sets of balls discussed here which we use only for bigger tournaments, then clean them and put them up. The Aramith Tournament balls still look as shiny and brilliant as when they were new out of the box. The Centennial’s look good, but not as shiny as a brand new set of Centennials out of the box. The identical cleaner / polish is used on all sets.
 
lfigueroa said:
I have several sets of pool balls.

But for the last year or so I've been taking the Centennials to the pool room. The other day I played a guy, maybe in his late 20's, some 1pocket and afterwards he asks me, "BTW, what kind of balls are those?"

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...
I also bring the Centennials and a template if I'm going to a pool room. There is less chance of someone objecting to playing with your own balls if they are Centennials. Damn if I didn't leave my 2 ball at the pool hall somehow. Fortunately you can buy single replacement Centennials from various sources.

Honestly, in all the years I've played with expensive balls, my original set of Aramith Premiums seem to be just as good as anything.
 
TATE said:
I also bring the Centennials and a template if I'm going to a pool room. There is less chance of someone objecting to playing with your own balls if they are Centennials. Damn if I didn't leave my 2 ball at the pool hall somehow. Fortunately you can buy single replacement Centennials from various sources.

Honestly, in all the years I've played with expensive balls, my original set of Aramith Premiums seem to be just as good as anything.
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Done that -- so I always count them when leaving the pool room.

I've had balls hang up inside the table -- even a Diamond -- so I always do a quick check.

Lou Figueroa
 
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