I've used Sage's, lamiglas, Loomis, Fenwick, shimano, etc..
My go to gear rod right now is my Green Sage CT2106 factory. If you want fast rods, Loomis is the ticket but I find that the fit and finish are not up to Sage standards for the price that you are paying. Sage's are a bit slower than Loomis but I haven't found any problems with hookset and its oh so sweet when battling a fish. You can see the quality that goes into their factory gear rods, the premium cork, guides etc..
According to sage, there are no differences in the action of the brown blanks as opposed to the new green ones in their factory rods. Any differences may be attributable to how the custom rods were built (number and placement of guides etc..)