Kaplan Amo, Vivo, and Forza Viola Strings

Kaplan has released a few new viola strings.  The Amo and Vivo follow the violin set in their design and the Forza is a rebranding of the original Kaplan viola set.  The Amo and Vivo have a synthetic core and are identical to the violin cores (But altered for the viola's length and tone).  The Forza has a metal core (Rope for the D, G, and C with a solid core A).  The A is the same solid metal core across all three sets.  Although for some people that are used to all synthetic sets this might seem like a jump in tone but it is becoming common for many violist to do this mix.  The metal A gives a punch and clarity for solo passages with the lower strings having more richness.

All three come in the new packaging that look quite similar.  The Tail ends are the white and black wrapping we have come to know from Kaplan but with the white replaced with a copper or silver in the Amo and Vivo.

When installed they all settled in quite fast.  The Amo and Vivo took about 2 days to feel fully stretched while the Forza was settled within the day.

Under the fingers the synthetic ones are noticeably thicker.  If you are used to synthetic strings these will feel normal but if you are used to a metal cored string like Helicore these will feel quite large.  

As far as tone for the Amo and Vivo I need to pretty much copy and paste what I wrote for the violin review.

Tone
Amo
The best way I can describe these strings is "Warm Soloist."  If you are looking for something to really darken up a bright sounding instrument these won't do it much.  If you have a brighter instrument and are looking for a soloist sound without the shrill that many high tension synthetic strings bring these are perfect.  They blended well with my violin which leans a bit on the bright side.  Across the G, D, and A strings the sounds was very balanced with with a lot of power behind it.  The E string stands out from the rest, but not in an awful way.  Projecting higher melodic lines was very easy with fast response and medium tension.
Vivo
Vivo is exactly what the name suggests.  This might be the liveliest strings I have ever put on my violin (Which at this point is a lot).  They are as bright as a metal string but will project over a large orchestra with ease.  Even though the E strings looks to be the exact same as the Amo I felt that it had more power and brightness in the Vivo set. 

Projection
Amo
Amo strings deliver quite a punch for being a warmer string.  I will definitely be putting these on my "gig" violin.  Having the  warmer tone, but projection that is comparable to other bright/high-tension synthetic strings is essential for outdoor weddings where an amplifier is not accessible.
Vivo
These strings are cranked to 11.  The Vivo set is without a doubt the loudest strings I have ever used.  In my private lessons multiple students even took note of how loud my violin suddenly was.  Vivo strings seemed to bottom out at what I would consider  to be a medium dynamic.  If you are already needing more projection than without a doubt these will deliver

Complexity
I am going to put these together for this category.  Complexity is a difficult thing to pin down.  Both sets are VERY rich in overtones.  Both sets had the rest of the strings constantly ringing with sympathetic vibrations.  With that said the depth of tone and richness that you would expect from a gut string or low tension synthetic is not obviously present in the Kaplan set.

The only change I would make from that is that the tone is not as "punchy" on the viola strings.  With the violin set I had students stopping in the middle of lessons to let me know how loud my strings were.  Although these do give my instrument a boost it is nothing that has needed to stop a lesson to address.

The Forza strings have a similar projection but a much cleaner and brighter tone.  I have always been a fan of synthetic strings but there are times when I would reach for the Forza over a synthetic.  The first time I really came to understand sound being "muddy" is when I realized the benefit of metal cored strings.  After performing the Forsyth viola concerto on the Forza strings I switched to a synthetic core and the passages were no where near as clean and precise as I was used to.  Being a violinist first I was not used to having to alter my playing style to accommodate to flexibility obtained with synthetic strings.

Conclusion
All three of these sets are aiming towards a similar market.  They are for people looking to project their sound as either a soloist or liven up a dull sounding instrument.   I would categorize the Forza separately.  although it has the projection similar to the Amo and Vivo it stands on it's own.  For those who have always loved the clean sound of metal cored strings but want both a bit more projection and richness than many metal strings out there these would be perfect to try.

For the Amo and Vivo these will give a synthetic string lover a whole new view.  Often many synthetic strings feel like just slightly different variations of the same thing.  The core of these are not perlon or nylon and therefor have a flexibility, stability, projection and richness not easily obtainable in any other set.