I've built with Pillar spokes. Matter of fact, I'm in the middle of building 15 wheel sets for my largest client with straight gauge Pillar right now. Their choice of materials, not mine, but I have had no negative experiences. Unless you count the fact that their black spokes are powder coated and I have to clean the threading dies more frequently.
They are made by Sha Dar in Taiwan, and the Taiwanese have most of this stuff figured out.