It's 100% all about preference.

I'm not in any way sponsored by Lew's but I absolutely swear by their reels and think the BB1 is the very best reel value on the market. It's not the cheapest and it's not the most expensive, but one of the smoothest casting reels you'll ever throw and it doesn't back lash nearly as bad as many others on the market.

Many people will tell you to go with a low (like a 5.1:1) gear ratio reel for cranking. I tried that. I bought several low gear ratio reels and I hated it. It seemed to me like it made cranking much more work.

I now throw a 6.4:1 Lew's BB1 and a BB2 for all my crank baits. The BB2 is just a larger spool for the magnum crank baits like the 10XD. I was throwing almost all the line off my BB1 so I jumped to the larger spool just fro those baits.

There is a reason so many people say go with a lower gear ratio...it's just not my preference.

Good luck in your quest!

For what it's worth, I bought the TFO GTS CB794-1($169) and really like it. Throws a big CB with ease.

Higher End:

Power Tackle for glass, Dobyns,G. Loomis or a custom built rod for composite. My preference for custom rods are Reel Time Rods, built by Ron Grantham. He builds an awesome rod and stands 100% behind anything he builds.

I picked up an Irod genesis crank launcher at the fishing show in Jan for less than $100 and it's an awesome rod, especially for the money. You might call Fun n Sun and see if they are going to run that special again, I wish I would have picked up a couple more at that price.

I throw a lot of big crankbaits and have quite a few cranking rods, one of my favorites is a custom built rod that was built on a salmon blank, it's a beast and can throw a big crankbait a mile..

You should check out Power Tackle

pgc173-7-3 is the glass rod that Keith Combs uses for almost 100% of the time even for 10XD

PGC73-CP-7'3" this rod Is an all around crank bait rod made with composite materials, graphite 3/4 way up the rod, then an S-Glass tip.

Also Power Tackle has a Keith Combs line of rods coming out as well

well guys I'm gonna try 13 fishings "Crankenstein" and see how it drives. Thnx for all the recommendations. If anybody wants me to try their rods feel free to send them