new reel brand

Did anyone check out the "Qualia" brand reels at the Sacramento Expo? They looked nice but I don't know a good reel from a bad one. Has anyone studied these or used them? Their prices are pretty nice. 

I bought one at last years Fred Hall show.  I bought the 30 size of the spinning reel.  So far so good.  It seems like a pretty robust reel for the price.  The stainless steel gears and shaft are nice features but also make it a bit heavier than some other reels on the market.  Drag is decent (teflon washers) but I'd like to find a way to upgrade to wet carbon fiber washers (as I would for almost any reel I bought). 

Overall, I wanted to give the local mom-n-pop company a try and I'd say it's a decent reel for the money, though Okuma and Tica certainly have reels in the same price range that are very attractive as well.

Originally when I bought the reel and took it out surf perching, I loaded it with 6# mono.  The roller bearing on the bail had too loose of a tolerance and the line kept hanging up in the gap between the roller and the housing.  I called Qualia about this and demanded a refund or a replacement.  Their engineers promptly changed the product and tightened up that tolerance and they sent me a new reel.  Problem fixed.  So I guess they take customer feedback seriously.

EK

Tackle Tour from last years FH http://www.tackletour.com/reviewise2007pg2.html

http://qualiacorp.net/

This is their website. 


I was interested in the TS15. The link below shows that model. The TS15 is comparable to the Diawa sealine 40. The TS15 holds 330 yds of 30 lb line. The Daiwa is $119 and the Qualia is $89. I was hoping someone like Alan could compare the models and render an opinion.

http://qualiacorp.net/Transition%20Reels.html

Pretty big reel for a Kayak but I would go with the Daiwa you know you will be able to get parts in a few years.
Their marketing is pretty poor for a new brand trying to break into the market.

The Daiwa SL-X40HA is on sale a Cabelas I use the 20 for Dino's and lings and love it.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat600379&id=0038675121361a&navCount=5&podId=0038675&parentId=cat600379&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat600379&hasJS=true

i think the best reel is the one that you can service yourself.  the way things are now, there is no stock reel that measures up to chuck espiritu's standards for performance and reliability.  we are talking about straight out of the box and fished from a kayak.  i would hazard to guess that every reel would fail within a season, many after the first trip.  that's why you need to be able to field strip and maintain your own gear.  no one is as hard on a reel as a kayak fisherman.