Looking to pick up another reel mainly used for bottom contact type of applications. All the reels now are Daiwa but I'm thinking about trying the SLX XT. Has anyone fished both of these? I have fished nothing but magnetic brakes so going to the XT will be a learning curve. Also are they close to the same size? I know the Curado K feels like a monster compared to the CT. Thanks.

Sorry, no experience with Daiwa but I have a couple of the SLX XT reels.  I call the SLX the little brother to the Curado K.  There's a noticable difference in size in the 200K and the 150 SLX visually and in the hand.  

 

The braking is not complicated.  Adjust your spool tension like any other reel, set your 4 pins inside on/off to the combination that works for you and forget about them, and adjust the external SVS dial on the fly (i.e. wind change).

 

Hope that makes sense... I'm half asleep ?

 

 

 

I own several slx reels in all variants except the DC. The mgl is my favorite but also more expensive.  The regular is amazing for the price point. I've owned several of the daiwa tatula ct reels and my fishing partner fishes several. They are great as well but I prefer the slx in most every way. Little smoother, little quieter, better ergonomics for me personally. The xt is a fine reel, have 2 of those as well. Of course you saying the k feels huge compared to the ct shows differing opinions because I find the k easier to Palm. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of them. They are all great for the $, just boils down to personal preference.