Comparing Hoyt Z1S to PSE Omen

[Wilderlife]

Hi all,

Has anyone had much experience with these two bows? I had reason to get rid of my 2022 PSE Omen recently and figured I'd replace with another speed bow because I don't draw very far so short brace height bows are easy for me to shoot.

I have some videos floating around a thread about the Omen but for the sake of making this thread easy...

The PSE was wound up to 68# (that's as high as we were willing to take it but it was a 70# model).
Draw length set to 27.5 inches.
Let off was 85% I think?
With a 500gn arrow I was getting 269fps.
With a 480gn arrow I was getting 278fps.
With a 490gn arrow I was getting about 275fps.

I honestly found it very easy to shoot as I've been shooting trad bows (including lots of ASL's) the last few years. I didn't find anything about it harsh or unpleasant.

That was until I drew the Z1S. Oh my goodness...the draw cycle compared to the Omen is like butter.

For whatever reason, 27.5 inches on the Hoyt seemed a touch short so we wound it out to 28in.
Bow is a 70# model and came from the factory at 71.5# but is still significantly easier to draw than the Omen. The dump is far less harsh and it's overall much smoother through the whole cycle.
I chronographed 490gn arrows yesterday and got 273fps average. Bow was on 80% let off and I have since switched it to 85% but haven't chronographed it yet.

I haven't sighted it in properly or anything yet but I'll get to hunting with it really soon and might post some more stuff about it in the future. Just figured I'd make a thread to generate some discussion in case there are others who are into the speed bow thing. I'm not necessarily 'into speed bows' but as I said before, I don't draw that far so I haven't found them hard to shoot. Having said that, before the Omen and the Z1S, the last compounds I shot were an old Hoyt Defiant and Mathews Nocam.

 

[sndmn11]

The z1s is a heck of a bow. If I wasn't cruising around with an Omnia I'd have one and may still.

 

[Insomnia]

The omen seems to be super hit or miss. One came into the shop and wouldn't shoot. Like, you couldn't draw it back. Tried everything, replaced cams, limbs, limb pockets, finally had to get a replacement riser and that worked. The people that like theirs seem to like it a lot, but the pse rep in the area was MIA for a solid couple of months and nothing could get done for a long time after they got bought out. Sounds like you got stuck with a pair of weaker deflection limbs that they couldn't use for 60# limbs.

 

[Wilderlife]

One of the cable splitters on my Omen let go. I had an arrow on the string and it went off halfway through the draw cycle. I organised a new one and some new strings but my local shop wasn't quite sure what they needed in the washers/spacers that had broken. It should have been a simple fix for them but after two months I demanded a refund as I refused to wait any longer as my faith in the shop and their ability to fix it has gone.
So it was easier for me to buy a new bow from somewhere else. I was tempted by the 2023 Omen because of the new shim system but the wait would be a while so I just went with a Z1S I found and I'm very glad I did.
The Omen was pretty nice to shoot and obviously delivers insane performance, but it obviously comes at a cost. This Hoyt draws much nicer even though it's nearly 4# heavier.

 

[Insomnia]

One of the cable splitters on my Omen let go. I had an arrow on the string and it went off halfway through the draw cycle. I organised a new one and some new strings but my local shop wasn't quite sure what they needed in the washers/spacers that had broken. It should have been a simple fix for them but after two months I demanded a refund as I refused to wait any longer as my faith in the shop and their ability to fix it has gone.
So it was easier for me to buy a new bow from somewhere else. I was tempted by the 2023 Omen because of the new shim system but the wait would be a while so I just went with a Z1S I found and I'm very glad I did.
The Omen was pretty nice to shoot and obviously delivers insane performance, but it obviously comes at a cost. This Hoyt draws much nicer even though it's nearly 4# heavier.

All of the simple pse fixes have been not so simple this year because in some areas, the reps went MIA after the buyout.

 

[Wilderlife]

Bit of a different story for me, mate. I bought it through a shop in Australia that gets their bows and parts from JVD in the Netherlands. The communication between my local shop and JVD wasn't effective and it took far too long, and I found parts in other Australian shops but my local shop didn't seem too concerned with conacting them and getting it sorted a.s.a.p.
Lesson learned, for me. The sooner I understand how to use my press and become self reliant in this space, the better.