Matt, I use both reels so I have no specific allegiances to either. I'm amazed that people become so emotive on this topic. It could be that they have spent so much money on the reel that they want to justify (at least to themselves) that they made the right purchase. Why should we have any allegiance when they charge us so much money for it!?
Recently, I encountered someone on another site who basically went insane when I questioned his love affair with the Saltiga. I use one myself so it is hardly like I don't know anything about the reel. He was just talking $#@!. He even got to the point where he was arguing against what is well known conventional wisdom about the drag of the Saltiga and he got so offensive in the end that he got tossed from the forum. For me, I couldn't understand this - why?
If the retailer has not had any problems at all with the 6500, then I sincerely doubt he has any customers who are GT fishos! I've seen examples of the sticking drag myself on a couple of occasions. Quite frankly, my view is the price of the Saltigas is outrageous even though it is my preferred popping reel. I just do't see how they can justify the price difference. Do I think it is a better reel than the Stella? In a nutshell, no. I use it because I like the look of it but I never have any hesitation in reaching for the Stella either.
Interesting because my preference is reversed as soon as I start jigging. I'll take the 20000 any time over the Explorer. Why? Well, I really like the feel of the 20000 and when heavy jigging, I like to get as much line on the reel as possible and the 20000 has a higher line capacity than the Explorer. Getting spooled does that to you!