FWIW I'm a huge EE fan... 2 Enigmas, 3 Revelations (one of them synthetic, from back when they called it Prodigy) and 2 Revolts. My fave is the 30deg Enigma with 7D shell and 950fp... 14.1 oz of puffy wonderment... at a price.
I agree with getting top-line gear if you can afford it, but keeping it under $500 for the whole kaboodle reduces the sticker shock a bit.
Also, this is not to diss other cottage vendors, either... Loco Libre, Jacks R Better, UGQ and several others produce some amazingly good gear.