I got the chance to compare one against the other today. The Z9 is stiffer, however I felt my speccy was lighter. The speccy has a ‘different’ action to the Z9 ie were the pole flexes on the strike. Taking all my top 5 kits, short sections and how often I fish at 16m I will not be changing poles. The Z9 is a very nice pole however I was left with the feeling of how much have poles really changed in the last 8 years. Before anyone mentions strength I use my speccy for everything and I have a spare 13m pole so being ‘scared’ of breaking it is not an issue.