Te Kaitora Rua

After much research and deliberation I paid a visit to my dealer yesterday and ordered a Te Kaitora Rua to replace my XX-2.
Can’t wait for it to land now.
It will be going on my Xerxes 20 plus with Artemiz 2 arm and into a Supercapped Superline.
If anyone is running similar, what cartridge loading and tracking force are you using? Specs would suggest the same as my XX-2.

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I’ve always been under the impression that it uses the same settings as the XX-2, including Superline. I’ll be interested to hear your observations as my XX-2 will be due for change next year so currently pondering between XX-2 and TKR on my Sondek with Supercapped Superline although the wallet says XX-2!

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I use 1.95g on my LP12/Aro/TKR. I’ve used down to 1.90 and up to 2.05. For me, if you are going to experiment, lighter is better than heavier, but 1.95 is perfect for me.

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Exactly what I had on my Artemiz, same settings as XX2.

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Yep, I’ve found lighter sounds more nimble and dynamic with the XX-2 at least. I track at between 1.8g and 1.85g currently.

Running a TKR here on an LP12/Ekos SE and tracking is around 1.95 to 1.98, heavier is definitely worse. Needs replacing soon and am considering XV1T or Kandid or Ekstatic or maybe even a Lyra. Should be fun auditioning.

Tim

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Like Dynavector, Lyra gels very nicely with Naim gear.

Never heard Lyra but I’m open to new experiences. I have a Linn Selekt DSM Edition BTW so will need to balance cartridge with that system.

Tim

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To my surprise the TE Kaitora Rua arrived the day after ordering so I spent a nice relaxing couple of hours fitting the Te Kaitora Rua yesterday afternoon, changing the oil on the Xerxes while I was at it.
After the comments on here I stuck with the same cartridge loading as the XX-2 and set the tracking at 1.92g.
My dealer had told me not to expect too much from the off, and with the system having been powered down since Wednesday (after a couple of nearby lightning strikes) I wasn’t expecting too much.
I have to say though, it took me by surprise. Never heard a cartridge sound so good straight out of the box. Can’t wait to see how much better it’ll sound when the system is warmed up and it’s fully run in.

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The TKR shouldn’t take more than 20-50 hrs to reach its full potential. I have a XV-1s that was factory rebuilt early this year, and it only took about 20 hrs to loosen up and sound its best.

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That’s great news.
Out of interest, how long did the rebuild take?

Oh, about 3-4 months. And it came back better, with all the incremental improvements DV made since the original build.

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On another thread you shared about Lyra cart, which for Ian Carr can last around 3k hours if the lps are well cleaned.
How often do you clean the lp in the Degritter, before each new listening or after several ones?

The tracking force that someone else uses is totally irrelevant. Only you on your system can test that. If your arm needs 2.05g to track best, it needs 2.05g.

I have it on an Aro and prefer it to be on the lighter side of the tracking force range. That’s all that would be of any possible use to you. I listen for a crisp treble rather than the weight of the bass. If it’s crisp, it’s tracking the best it can for me. If you want more weight, change something else in your system.

The Te Kaitora sounded harsh for the first 10 hours, then took 80 hours to start to play properly. Great cartridge.

P.S. I hope Dynavector stopped putting the serial number sticker on the mating surface and if they didn’t, you took it off.

I clean every disc when I acquire it, and again if/when it gets dirty again. I wet clean the stylus with Lyra SPT before each session and dry brush it after every side.

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Thankfully nothing on the mating surface on my TKR.