You void the warranty if you take the Calais into saltwater. Its got 11 ball bearings! Like you, I've only played with the thing at my local shop, but it is very smooth (much more so than the 5500). It looks like the same base reel as the Curado/Chronarch/Citica which will hold a decent amount of 15/b test and I've caught plenty of kings on my Curado.

If you buy it, give the board a report!