Thanks for the input fella's. I think that I am still leaning towards Dan's setup mostly because I think he did a fantastic job with the sounds of the radial engine (it just sounds right) w/ the Benedini. Also over the years I have heard nothing but great reviews of Darkiths DBC. As I stated earlier, my plan is to get a Tamiya Pershing so that I have at least one Tamiya. And I trust in what Dan and PC say about the RX-18 board being a decent esc. My other options would be of course the SLU or Elmod. The cheaper route is the SLU, but I like the benedini radial sound better. I haven't heard the Elmod though so I can't compare. The SLU is very appealing, price wise, I don't care for how the IR is connected to the apple, and that there isn't inertia, even though I hear slow speeds are good. And with the DBC3 I like the fact the Tamiya apple can be used.

Thanks
Wade

Ps. If people want to chime in, all comments welcome