OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Played with the Galaxy K-4 shakehand for part of 2 sessions, about 2 hours total. I put Globe 889 1.8mm and Tackiness Chop 1.9 (which I transferred from my Kazan) on it. It is fast but the feel is deader than I'm used to. The performance of the K4 compared to the Kazan or the Violin and compared to what I was kind of expecting based on people's good reviews, was from my perspective a let-down. Instead of a head-turning high pitched cracking sound, it makes a low pitched unspectacular whop. It is heavier and not particularly more controllable. It is not springy like the violin, or hard and stiff like the Kazan, but just stable -- if it was a man it would be the type that mothers would love but daughters would not swoon over. You can feel that there is an explosive power because of its heft, but when you whack the ball hard, it looks faster than it feels or sounds. I guess carbon is just not for me.

This is a FIRST IMPRESSION. Who knows maybe in the future somebody would be reading this post and wondering why I have K4 on my sig. Actually maybe that will not happen because I thinking of swapping this for a cpen if anybody is interested... anyone?

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

I would suggest you give it some more time. When I first tried my K-4 after playing with my T-2 for some time, I kind of felt the same way. Compared to the T-2, it even felt too slow. But one day I decided to really give it a fair try for more than just a bit, and without playing my T-2 first during a session. So I put my T-2 away and played exclusively with the K-4 for some time.

I'm very glad I did. When I gave myself the time to get used to the K-4, I found that (1) the blade was fast enough; (2) my short game was considerably better; (3) I gained more control of my topspin shots; and (4) my overall game improved.

Addoy I have a Cpen you'd probably like that I'd swap for the K-4. I have the K-3 and think its a pretty awesome blade (although not as awesome as the Hurricane King). The CPen I have is the LKT Lord of Speed. Its very springy and fast, which fits with what you said you were looking for. I tried using it shakehand for a while, but the handle was just too short. I used it with an extension, but somebody borrowed it and took my extension off for some reason and lost it on me. I really should make another extension and try it with LP, which I have not done. It was a blade I could hit booming winners with from 10 feet off the table (only ever done in practice as I don't play like that in comp LOL).

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Thanks for the offer Reb. I think I might listen to Brainstorm's advice for now and give the k4 a fair shake. I think i'm settling down now to the violin for penhold and kazan for shakehand. I expect that any new blade would feel strange the first few hours anyway.

there's somebody who posted a conversion of a shake to cpen hybrid over at mytabletennis. So thats another option i might do with the k4 when i feel the urge to tinker.

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

No worries mate, from what I have read on the K-4 I think it would be very nice to play with, so you might eventually find this the case. My offer was completely self-interested for my EJ curiosity to try the K-4 given my satisfaction from the K-3. not sure how much it would cost to send baldes to each other across the Indian Ocean, but if you do find you hate it, I'll still be happy to check it out LOL.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

You know what.... Being the nice guy that I am.... Instead of you guys sending the blades to each other across the Indian Ocean.... Just send it halfway each... Just send it to me.... I'll be glad to house them for you two... I'll play with them.. Review them... Take a good care of them for you...

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instagram: rokphishtt

I recently put Mark V max and Sriver FX 1.9 (both previously cut rubbers that I was no longer using) on my K-4. I haven't played with it yet just hit some on the wall, but I could tell it is a different beast with the offensive inverted rubbers. My first setup on the K-4 was Tackiness Chop + 889, which was not really suited for the blade nor for my game. (The chop+pips is a fun loud combo though on the Kazan, which I'm rarely using anymore). The compact head of the Kazan feels strangely small after doing air-pingpong for a few days now with the K4.

Will try to play some with the K-4 tomorrow. I just saw a Michael Maze documentary so I'm feeling the shakehand vibe

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

addoydude, did you play with your new K-4 setup? I'm interested in whether you likr it better now. I still really like mine.

BTW, do you know how much your K-4 weighs?

Now Rok, we could agree to you doing that provided an Xiom blade of yours comes each way for us to return the favour with. We couldn't possibly have it any other way now, could we addoy?

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Wow!!! What a really really really late come back from you Reb.... Age is catching up on you old guy? Hahahaha!!!

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instagram: rokphishtt

Yes I have played with it. Actually like the setup much better now. But I think I need softer rubbers with more grip, maybe. I have been used to the soft rubbers on my Violin, and found that on the K4 i had a bit of trouble with looping. Nothing wrong with the blade just what I have been used to. But the driving and hitting was good. I only played for less than 2 hours so I can't say I'm even fully adjusted yet.

I don't know if soft rubbers would go well with the K4. The Sriver FX that I had on the backhand was just 1.9 so it bottoms out pretty easily. I'm getting H3 provincial and thinking of putting it on one side, not sure yet because H3 is not soft. Actually I like the IQ 35 degree on my Violin and would want to try also on the K4 but with a bigger area it might be too heavy. If I can get my hands on an IQ UL I will put that on.

I didn't weigh my blade but the seller said it is 87grams. I have a digital scale. Next time I change rubbers I will weigh the blade.

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro