AGrant,

my opinion, take it for what it's worth since its an opinion and everybody had one, is that the echo3s are one of the best, if not the best, 7 -10 wts under $400 on the market. I like the way the TFO bvk cast, but i had breakage issues with them (not trying to turn this into an argument, just my experience adn most people that I know have said the same). As for the clouser rods, I LOVE those as well. So I would really push to try either the echo3s or the clouser. I own 7's of each adn love them both - like the echo for floating lines and clouser for sinking line or floating line. Echo is 9' and the clouser is 8'9" so depending on what casting stroke you have/want, one may suit you better than the other.

hope this helps some

Although somebody menitoned and 8' A3, sounds interesting....