Ohhhh Boy! For someone like me who owns the fly reel equivents of Chevys the Charleton is like climbing into a Ferrari. Everything is beautifull and tight on the Charleton. I have a buddy who gets them as a promo deal since he's one of the flyfishing elite (dirty *******...I need to stake out his house and intercept all of his UPS deliveries). Yes, they are all they are cracked up to be. i've had the chance to fish all his Charleton's except his big game model which only gets used for albacore and the occasional halibut. If you've got the expendible bucks go for the signature series. I got to match 6 numbers Wed. night and I'm ordering one on Thurs. morn.!!!