Brian,
I agree with you on the rods Meiser is developing. The ones that are finised development are terrific and those not quite finished development yet are very nice now and will be superb casting and fishing tools when development is finished. The good strong tip combined with a nice, fast, crisp, progressive action and the small profile, thick blank wall makes for a rod that feels light in the hand with a low swing weight.
We are indeed very fortunate to be alive today. There are excellent rods on the market that cast and fish well and they cover the gamut from slower, full-flex rods to fast, progressive ones. In other words, there are superb casing and fishing instruments available now and in the near future to satisfy any person's preferred rod action and casting style.
We also have great lines available to use from shooting heads to short belly to long belly. This is very different from what it was back in the late 80's and early 90's. And now with the new spey line standards, things will get even better because we won't have to guess about what line size to use with a given rod.