My statement on brakes comes in the wake of using Avid Juicy 7s, Avid Code Rs, Avid Elixir CR SLs, and Formula The Ones. The Avids I hated, all of them, and the Formulas were decent, but compared to the Saints and XTR Trails I run now, the others pale by comparison. I did justify my statement by saying from my experience. So, others certainly may think differently.
I will say that my Avid Single Digit 7s, with Speed Dials and Kool Stop Salmon pads are insane. They feel better than my Juicy 7s EVER did...