I gave away 6 Shimano's to my grandkids a couple of years back. Told them to use them until the stop working, which they will do. A design flaw (friction ring which binds up the rotator head) that has plagued Shimano for over a decade now. They re-designed their entire line - and kicked up the price by almost $20.00 on their most popular Sahara model, as well as others! The jury is still out as to the effectiveness of this design change. I don't believe the cost increase is worth it.
I've been using the Pflueger Presidents (I have 4 now) in the #6920 size. They seem to balance just fine on 7' - 9' B n' M rods that I use. And over the past decade I've had no performance issues at all. They cast great, are very reliable and handle 2# - 6# braid extremely well. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Price point is great too.
I hear a lot about "balance" with a reel & rod combination. I know a lot of very excellent and experienced anglers are going to disagree with me here (please forgive me!), but when you start talking about panfishing in general, the smaller reels normally used for this sport are pretty much the same weights. And how do you go about "balancing" a 9' - 10' rod anyway? You'd have to have a pretty hefty reel to do so for sure. But.....this is just my opinion (backed up with over 60 years of experience mind you). It works for me. Hope this is of some help.
"A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."