Shocks are a very personal thing. What I like might not be the same as someone else. I stress good handling over everything else. However, at my advanced age, I also don't want any harshness in the ride.
The day I bought my 04 Trailblazer, I took it to the shop and got Rancho RSX all around. (These are identical to the Monroe Reflex.)
About 4 years ago, I had one of the rear Ranchos leak, and they swapped both rears under warranty for the Monroe Reflex.
Last month I swapped the fronts for Monroe Quick-struts, with the Monroe Sensa-Trac shock. Here is why.
As the Monroe Reflex (in my case, the identical Rancho RSX) wore, it got MORE harsh. I got tired of the harshness. They still controlled well ... I just didn't like the hammering and the passengers cringing over fast, small bumps. I also wanted a new spring and upper spring mount anyway. They were straightforward to install. (Don't watch too many youtube videos; you don't need to unbolt any suspension pieces or sway bar links. Just remove the shock complete with the bottom arm, and once off your truck, use a chisel to spread the pinch fitting apart. All I needed was a chisel, wrench, sockets and a wide pickle fork.)
A day later, the new shocks felt very similar to what i just took off (which is a good thing) but without the harshness (which was also a good thing.)
In the month since, they have softened up a bit and I am REALLY liking them. They are better controlled than the factory shock but not as stiff as the Bilsteins. I am keeping the Reflex shocks on the rear because I really like more rear stiffness to better control understeer and make the truck handle more neutral. (This is why one of my first upgrades was a stiffer rear sway bar.)
So why do the Reflex shocks wear and become more harsh? The answer is in the design and the philosophy of the shock. The Reflex is an acceleration-sensing design. This means that they are stiff and harsh in normal driving, but when the bypass valve opens because of a quick ACCELERATING shock piston movement, they open more than a usual shock, and soften when accelerating. So basically, they are a stiff shock, that softens with quick bumps. As the piston and bypass valves wear, they will bypass less, meaning that the harshness will become worse with years of use.
By the way, this is why Monroe does little marketing of the Reflex shock and has dropped the Reflex from many of their product lines. They were just too harsh for some.
So what's different about the Sensa-Trac, and why has this one become the de facto standard for the performance replacement market? They are a POSITION sensing shock. This means that they are soft in the middle of the piston travel area (because of simple slots cut into the inside of the shock cylinder) and only stiffen when they reach the area of greater travel. So they start soft, and stiffen when most needed - when you start approaching the limits.
While the Bilsteins are nice - and we used to run nothing but Bilsteins in our BMW 2002 endurance race car back in the early 1980s - they are just not for me. I wanted WAY more control than the factory ride, but with not much more stiffness and no more harshness. I got these with the Sensa-Trac shocks in the front.
And, in answer to some questions, I measured ride height front and rear, left and right, both before and after. There was less than a 1/2" difference in the front ride height left to right with my previous springs and shocks. The new Monroe Quick-struts were an IDENTICAL ride height. (They even evened it out, left to right too!) No alignment needed.
So I may be old but I am very sensitive to handling, braking and shock issues. (I test drive police cars on race tracks as part of what my wife laughingly refers to as a "living.") But I also drive the roads of Northern Manitoba, in what may be the worst highway in North America. (Trust me - NO ONE can do the Gillam run in under 20 parsecs.)
I am happy with the Quick-struts. For me.