I have a couple modern Stern games and based on recommendations one of the early things I did with them was to swap out the factory rubber on the playfield and flippers. Using clear silicone at the slings and colors in a few other spots is helpful with lighting and appearance.
I tried Titan Low Bounce and used them for quite a while. Then I played a duplicate of one of my machines at a friend's house and he had factory rubber everywhere. I'm far from an advanced player but it was immediately obvious that the factory rubber was much more "dead" and gave me way better control of the ball. Even with the Low Bounce silicone, it was notably harder to control the ball. When I got home, immediately swapped back to factory rubber and BAM, notable impact in my scores and controllability.
Am I alone in having this experience, or maybe the sensitivity to this really depends on player experience and technique? Just curious. Both of my Sterns now wear factory black flipper rubber and fancy color silicone everywhere else.
Where's the best place to source OEM style flipper rubber so I can have some spares handy?