I have owned two KVD reels and the anti reverse went out on both so i definetly aint going to buy another quantum.  I have had such bad luck i don't have a clue what to buy because i want something that will last me a long time.

There is no "best."  There are only opinions on what an individual considers to be the best.

Shimano Shahra...bout 80.00..

here's one for sale  

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1242000057

I'm sure Muddy will chime in ..lol

Pflueger.

At the low end, the Trion. It just doesn't act like a $40 reel. I've had one going on two years now and it's just as smooth as the day I took it out of the box. I've fished the snot out of it. One complete teardown, clean and lube this past winter.

In the middle, the President. I don't own one, so I won't give an opinion. Have read a lot of positive things about it here and elsewhere.

At the top, the Supreme. Only have had mine a few months now, not long enough to give an honest review. So far I'm very happy with it. About the only magnesium frame spinning reel at the $100 price point.

Light and smooth, good drag. So far so good.

Both the Trion and the Supreme handle line superbly. Another plus are the bails, which have been flawless for me. In my mind, a crappy bail setup can make the nicest reel a worthless POS.

I had the Qunatum KVD rod for a little while myself. I picked it up at the BPS spring classic as a second choice over the Kinetic and under the Catalyst. I fished it for a couple of weeks and never liked the way the reel felt. I know you said you would never get another Quantim but I stripped the line off cleaned the reel up and returned it to BPS. The reel was still in perfect working order and exchanged it for the Kinetic PTI-B20 and the difference was like night and day. The Kinetic has worked flawless for me so far. My older PTI-A20 Catalyst has also held up well with no problems. If I was choosing another line I would go with something in the Shimano lineup. I have a Shimano Sahara 1000 and its a great reel and ultra smooth. My Kinetic is just as smooth but for a second choice the Sahara or Symetre are great choices.

I agree with bilgerat about Pflueger. I have all three reels mentioned and I do the bulk of my fishing with them since last year.

Some other great reels are:

Shimano Symetre

Daiwa Capricorn

Abu Garcia Cardinal

I own a Trion and a President and they are both great reels. I would suggest the President Its an excelentreel for the price. I have had more expensive reels that didnt preform as well.

I have owned two KVD reels and the anti reverse went out on both so i definetly aint going to buy another quantum. I have had such bad luck i don't have a clue what to buy because i want something that will last me a long time.

Shimano Symetre 2500FI:

http://www.deloscustomtackleshack.com/reels/shimanosymetrefi.html

8-)

Sahara or Symetre are great choices.

try a mitchell 308xge it cost $60.00

I just bought 3 more Shimano Sahara's after I fell in love with just one.

I have 5 Shimano Spirex of various ages.  Ones 12 years old ones 12 days old.  They all perform very well.  The upgraded spool on this year's model is a big improvement.

I like the double handle since it is similar in feel to my baitcasters.  And I like the quick fire.  I know some people don't like the fact that it doesn't have instant anti-reverse because of the quickfire trigger but I'm used to it and it has never been an issue with me.

Cabela's Tournament ZX (Daiwa Exceler) on sale right now for $49.99

I have 2 of these, plus a Prodigy (more $) and really like them.  The Tourney ZX is a grand value at $49.99.  The Prodigy (on sale for $69.99) supposedly has a better, sealed drag but I can't tell any difference in mine.

I also have a Pflueger Pres and Trion and both decent but I like these Cabela (Daiwa) reels better.

pflueger makes quality spinning reels, you can get the president or supreme in that price range. These are the upper level reels and are very well crafted.  

Symetre 2500 FI

Sahara 2500

Pfleuger President XT

Pflueger President or Symetre FI.