hate to butt in...
But I have fished a ton of Daiwa, and a ton of Okuma reels, and never liked one, from the high end, to the low.
As for what Magmaster said, he is 110% right, if you guys are looking at the amount of Ball bearings in a reel to make a decision, you WILL NOT get the best reel for the $$$, Ball Bearings are a selling point, and most of the "extra" bearings you guys see, in these fancy reels, really do nothing for the reel, except add another part to corode, or go bad.
I would concentrate more on frictioned parts, and most importantly, the way the reel stacks line.
I have fished a ton of the new Stella's, (1000's, 2500's) and needless to say, I was pretty dissapointed, not to say anything bad about Shimano, ofcourse!
I have an old Symetre 100 Rear drag, that I would fish over any Stella, Sustain etc... No worm gear = smooth as silk. :)
just my 2 cents.
D