My fave reel might be my Shimano TSS4 eggbeater. It'd be close, though, between that and my Penn 7500SS (had an 8500, I shouldn't have sold it). Once had a Daiwa G7000 Power Disc Drag. It was meant to be very good but it didn't last very long. I think Daiwa has a problem of bringing out new reels and then just dropping them - spare parts a problem. (But I've got a Daiwa Black Gold 30, an old reel Daiwa hasn't dropped. Think it's a Penn copy, and the drag in mine is no good.) I'm not out to knock Daiwa reels. I like the brand because it does long cast reels and has always been into threadline reels (doing things like Twistbuster), but I'm not so sure about the quality. I have a Crosscast 6000, very plasticky and tries to look very Japanese.