BM, I think most of us are guilty of having opinions and ideas based on what we read and think we understand, and what we hear from others. We all hear the reports that the Imax/A99 matching coil is really lossy, but I ask what difference does it make in something that we can determine just working our radio. Maybe this matcher is the source of the white noise we all tend to experience using these antennas, but I can't be sure.
Other that the general ideas about low "Q" and bandwidth, I wonder how most guys figure the Imax/A99 matcher is as bad as they suggest, and furthermore how much difference does it make, so we can tell...just using our radios. There are some technical rules concerning wire diameter that might be meaningful in such a discussion, and both the Imax/A99 use thin radiator wire, but that subject or the importance of thin wire in such use typically goes with no discussion. Is that important? There are many considerations to be made regarding antennas, but most seem to be ignored.
Personally, I don't think most guys really know, they just pick a subject or a product and are persuaded how it works and how good it is, with no more thought or consideration...than how they decide which fork they want to use to eat with.
I know I don't know the answer to your question.
I've heard the same said about Jay's trombone tuner, so I modeled it and found results that might add something unexpected by me and something that I never heard described before. The horizontal pattern I see develop in this model could support his claim for superiority if it is true. But, when I posted the model it got very little attention, with hardly no comments, so I figure that most don't give a hoot about the antenna, and/or the same regarding modeling, so take your pick.
