I personally don't use conicals so I'm well aware that you don't need them. However, I know many people who have full lines of conicals and all the reasons I listed serve them quite well for their processes. I personally don't like the cleaning regimin required for a relatively small batch size. If I brewed 10 gallon batches or more, I'd be all over the Spike CF10.
That last paragraph says it all, Bobby, and points out the only real downside of conicals and unitanks: cleanup. If you're gonna' do it right to avoid infections, or even just some random off-flavors, you're gonna' have to adopt thorough protocols to disassemble, clean and sanitize all the moving parts. At first I didn't, and ended up with results that were downright disastrous. Can it be tedious? Yes, if you let it. But if you approach the task with the attitude that your goal isn't just to make beer but to create BETTER beer, then you'll be rewarded for the effort.
I relate it to my attitude towards tools on my workbench. Over the past 50 years I've accumulated quite a collection both out of whimsical desire and/or necessity for a specific task at hand. A 1956 Mercedes 190SL required metric sizes that my former mid-60s Mercury Cougar didn't. A full set of wrenches and sockets set me back more than a few bucks that I didn't have a lot of at the time, but it was at the intersection of want and need. After every repair or tune up, things got wiped down and put away in their place rather than left scattered around waiting to rust. I've still got just about every tool I ever bought and can locate pretty much every one of them if needed, even if I haven't used it in decades. I don't think I'm anal about my level of organization and care, but rather protective of my investment and proud of what I can accomplish with what I've accumulated. Take care of your tools and they'll take care of you.
It's no different than that with brewing gear. Do I need a stainless conical? No, but these days I can afford it. It allows me to accomplish things in this hobby that I either couldn't do, or at least do as easily. The trade-off (after initial investment) is that cleanup, though more thorough and involved, is much less likely to result in infection from a scratched plastic bucket or siphon rod. I have much greater control over the process and believe that my end results are superior to what I used to brew. I take a lot of pride in the equipment I've obtained over the past few years and really don't mind the extra time and effort involved in keeping it in top working order.
And finally I can't ignore the bling. Can't deny it. I really like the
bling!