Performance...........Shimano made for japanese market.

Customer service.....Abu

I would put Shimano's customer service against anyone's.  They aim to please.

I have sent my abu's back to Pure Fishing in Spirit Lake Ia, on a number of occasions, each and every time within 7-10 days I received a new reel back, even out of warranty, return postage paid by them.  To me that's a big winner.

Shimano on the other hand voided my warranty for using a lube that was not their product, turnaround time was about 4 weeks and charged me 10 return postage.  The work they performed was stellar.  Under the conditions of their warranty they performed.

That being said Shimano, without any doubt from me, is a better quality reel.

I've sold a few Morrum reels over the years.  A beautiful work of art.

I own both brands. I prefer Abu Garcia.

Falcon

I voted abu because i have 2 spinning reels and an stx.  I just got my stx back from sending it to their service department.  I had it sitting on a table after i just took the line off of it and my neice ended up knocking it off and i dont know exactly what went wrong with it but long story short i got it back from abu in less then 10 days completely fixed and they didnt charge me a dime. (and my one year warranty was expired)    

I dont see how anyone could beat that customer service

I am planning on buying a curado 200E5 for cranking.  All in all you cant go wrong with either one.  I would never trade my STX

I used both years ago and when I started having trouble with them Shimano said it was all my fault and jerked me around on service.  Abu Garcia stepped up to the plate and took care of me first time I needed help.  Gave the Shimanos away and have been with Abu Garcia ever since.  I have dozens of their round reels and about 18 of the new Revos.

Also have 3 Morrum 1600's that are a work of art.  Used them for a good many years with flawless service.

Shimano hands down. I could never betray my Citica D.

I think the new Curado E is a step backwards from the D in terms of quality and workmanship.  I never thought the D was a $200 reel (though I thought it was a pretty good reel).   Why the Curado E commands $180 is beyond me.  

I used both years ago and when I started having trouble with them Shimano said it was all my fault and jerked me around on service. Abu Garcia stepped up to the plate and took care of me first time I needed help. Gave the Shimanos away and have been with Abu Garcia ever since. I have dozens of their round reels and about 18 of the new Revos.

Also have 3 Morrum 1600's that are a work of art. Used them for a good many years with flawless service.

O MY U GOT   3600 size MORRUMS How much?????  

I think the new Curado E is a step backwards from the D in terms of quality and workmanship. I never thought the D was a $200 reel (though I thought it was a pretty good reel). Why the Curado E commands $180 is beyond me.

I agree. Shimano seems to be trying to play catch up since the introduction of the D series.

They seem to have been caught with their pants down on that one. Garcia, Daiwa, Pflueger all introduced lightweight LP reels easily superior to the old green Curado's and then Shimano revamps the Curado reel with something way to big and overweight.

They try and solve the problems on the E by making the spool bigger for more line capacity with less reel size bulk but wind up compromising integrity with graphite end plates to get the weight down.

Maybe they'll get caught back up with the F series. Of course by then, the others will have probably revamped their line and Shimano will be behind again.

I voted shimano because out of all the other brands I've tried over the years I always come back to shimano.

I think that since the Revos and the Pfluegers are manufactured in the same Korean company I would go with the Pfluegers.

For the same price as the STX the Patriarch has better looks,better braking and doesn't have Abu's out dated reel knobs.

I'm an Abu, Daiwa guy.