Just from reading through these forums its easy to tell many of the people are more or less having a sword fight in a pissing contest, than casting the stated distances they believe they are. Neil is a good caster who has the technique to cast a bare sinker over 200m, he is one of NZ better casters, In my eyes top 10 of NZ and well out there. In comparison the average castor believe it or not, casts anywhere from 80m-120m (BARE SINKER ) . Casting with a bait ( longcast rig ) average size bait, you lose 40%-60% of your dry casting distance. So on a good day this means Neil is fishing with bait on average at 120m out………………..
My point is, when guys say they can cast a DROPPER RIG with two baitss, further than one of the top casters in NZ when he is using one bait, you can pretty much tell they ether have very short legs, or count in multiples of two 
Im not a great caster, but im certainly no green horn, When guys are talking about distance it’s very simple.
1)
Long cast spool and .30mm nylon ( eg 6kg ) Regardless of the brand, they all work the same. The only difference between a cheep reel and an expensive one is, duriblity, bearings, and proformence under high pressure. No difference in the casting however..
2)
A rod that has the right action, if you want distance then you need a stiff rod. if the rod has a soft action, it wil cast smooth, but will lack punch. The stiffer the rod, the more punch and power that gets generated through the final stages of the cast.
EXAMPLE
soft rods.
Kilwell SLX, GGX
OKUMA predator, axeon
Jarvious walkers ect… get the drift,
mid range
OKUMA solaris
PEN slammer
Kilwell QT6
high end
Kilwell 222
zziplex
reel rods
rodworks
This is just a very broad example
rods like the solaris ( I’m picking this rod as many have it ) ( it is also the same blank as the slammer and the knew abu rod ) just made in a different factory.
Now this rod is a good allrounder, capable of bringing the average joe blogs a few extra meters. If you can cast this rod to 150, dry casting you are doing very well, if you can cast it 165-170. Up grade and you are ready to get the most out of a stronger stiffer blank.
Unless you are at the top of your game, i woulnd’t get into the whole guide spacings ect, When you can picj up a shit rod and cast it 150m dry casting thats when you should be looking at the finer points. A few peoples distant guesstimates need tweaking haha 
Just my piece.
regards