I prefer Futaba. But if I woke up tomorrow and Futaba didn't exist, I wouldn't cry very long about flying JR or Spektrum.
I used a 9C from 2002-just about a month ago when I upgraded to the 14SG. I've played with Spektrum and JR systems a little when I was starting to make the change over to 2.4GHz. Like I said, I prefer Futaba hands down, but that doesn't mean that others aren't any good.
And Ford > Chevy. But I drive a Toyota, so what do I know...