It terms of bang for the buck the Shimano Sahara is pretty nice. And the Shimano Stradic is really nice but is also more money.

It's really hard to quantify. Do you need a $150 reel if you mainly panfish for bluegills and crappie?

 

I like the daiwa ballistic ex4000h. its 137.00 on ebay.
sherman

 

another great reel for the money is the shimano Sedona 4000. I have one of these and its as smooth as silk. it runs about 66.00 to 70.00 on ebay.
sherman

 

14.4 oz on the smallest penn. ouch. My vote is Stradic Ci4.

 

All depends on your criteria for what is the best. You said performance first so stella would get my vote. As far as value goes hard to beat stradic fk or Daiwa procyon.

 

Diawa certate jdm older models appear to look the same as new penns and were priced the same last year.
Bunch of money for a reel.

 

14.4 oz on the smallest penn. ouch. My vote is Stradic Ci4.

Yes on the weight. I like to keep them under 10 oz. The new Stradic 8.3 oz in the 2500 with 20# drag. You can even get a 4000 for 9.9 oz . That size used to be 13-14 oz.

 

Ill be the blacksheep in the group and say pflueger ....

 

I agree with pflueger, last two shimanos i had were junk.

 

Answering the question with the lack of application and monetary position is like trying to define "how high is up". Give some information on what you primarily fish for, how often you fish and what your cash limits might be. Shimano, like many other manufacturers offers a full line of reels spanning medium price to high end. IMO a size 2000 or 2500 reel (depending on manufacturer) coupled with a 6'-6" medium/fast tip rod for a total cash outlay of $150/175 will give an individual years of reliable multi specie service if maintained properly.

 

Kind of liking the new Lews spinning reels as well..