Shimano hands down is my favorite

That is just according to you. If you like Shimano best that is just up to you, its all about what each individual likes. I like Daiwa best, then Lews, then Shimano. Shimano used to be all I owned until they came out with the G series. That is when I looked at Daiwa and Lews and that was a great decision on my part to switch to better reels.

Its all about personal preference and what you like but I have had no problems at all with my Lews super duty and BB1 pro reels. I have 1 Metanium, 1 SLX 1 Shimano K, and 1 Shimano curado DC and that is all I have newer than the E series because I like the older Shimano's better. Shimano made them much better back then. I just don't care much for the newer ones. My favorites are the Daiwa Steez, the Zillion, the Tatula SV and the Elite and the DC. They just work better for me than the newer Shimano's. The shimano G was a disaster same as the Shimano I series. Terrible reels.

The only problem I’ve had with lews, is inconsistency. I bought 3, 2 were fine and the other was junk. I always end up with Shimano it seems like.

Shimano for me

My personal opinion what its worth.
For reliability, performance and parts availability.

Shimano for sure.
Abu Garcia

Then maybe Diawa if they could figure out how to ship parts.
Lews
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13 Fishing

In all honesty the most dominant reel maker would be the one who makes and sales the most reels. And over the past 50 years that is Zebco by a huge margin.

For the price I find it hard to beat the Diawa Tatula SV’s for the price. What is the Shimano equivalent in the same price range?

It used to be ABU/Garcia but Shimano takes the throne nowadays

SLX

I agree. both of those two reels are very good.

Daiwa tatula series of reels are hard to beat, but I love my curado dc

Shimano for smoothness and light baits. But I have a rattletrap tied on a 4600c3 at all times.

Clearly there is a dominant maker

Always been a Shimano guy and always will.

Have a bunch of the old Curado "B" models and their Japanese counterpart, the Scorpions. Went to Lews in the mid-2000's but found them inconsistent in performance.

Last couple of reels were Curado and even tried a Tatula SV 103 which I consider equal with the Curado. Thinking I will stay with Shimano. Still using a half dozen of my older Shimano B models.

I am old enough to remember when the Abu Garcia 2500 - 5500's were the gold standard.

This!