JR is alive and well as Dee Force Aviation, the new owners of the JR brand. They're making some nice radios, but they aren't Spektrum compatible, they have their own protocol.
I had a Taranis once. That was enough. DIdn't care for the programming (lots do, however) and didn't care for the build quality of the mechanical parts. That's just me.
I would vote for a Spektrum radio, but again, that's my opinion. Depends on how many channels, etc. that you might need. I personally fly a DX9, and it's been my go to radio for quite some time now.