Searching.

1. find which lhs carries sovereignty
2. purchase stemline
3. ...
4.

 

ohhh oh oh my bad, I thought you wanted something you wouldn't like. here's my new recommendation:

1. find which lhs carries sovereignty
2. purchase stemline (if you can find one at all it's a good price)
3. ...
4.

 

Go to search and look up roor real or fake. I know when newbies see roor they jump on it so that might help

 

it's not sarcasm. you asked for the best straight clear tube, nothing to fancy, but price is no object. everyone and there mother is going to recommend a stemline. If you maybe give me a reason you don't wan't a stemline, I could try to recommend something else, but until then, stemline wins

 

As recommended, a stemline is a great tube and it will run you just above 300, your budget will have a lot to do with what you can get.
Generally, to get a top quality tube $300 is about a minimum if you want great diffusion and low drag. You can get great quality glass in a basic tube for around 100, something like HVY or SYN. Lower than that you are looking at mostly fairly low quality glass or bad manufacturing or both. It will work fine, but don't expect anything much.
Check my sig...there is a link to a glossary that will help explain some basics on tubes.
The things to look for in a good tube is nice looking glass that feels a bit hefty. It being thick is a plus. Beyond that you want everything to look clean..bubbles are bad...or anything crooked is bad..uneven slits on diffusers...etc (for instance I often see tree perks with crooked trees...that would be something to look out for.) For more diffusion, look for lots of slits to divide the smoke into lots of small bubbles. Something gridded, like the stemline, offers the most diffusion out of a single perk (gridding divides a single slit into 2 or more smaller holes by putting a line of glass across the slit..therefore more holes..so more diffusion) If you want a very smooth hit, more diffusion is the way to go.

Beyond that its mostly preference and looks. Some people like tubes with stems, some like stemless, some like a perk, some like 3 perks, some like no perks (each perk adds drag, so lots of them is something I don't like, but some do...I would rather have 1 great perk with low drag than several bad ones with high drag.
Some brands to look at for an idea of quality glass would be sovereignty, SGW (stone glassworks), 2011bc. The next step down would be brands lik HVY, SYN, and MGW (manifest glassworks). Beyond those you can also look at stuff with color work, which costs extra, but if its your thing it can be very worth it.

Another suggestion would be to look at vapes, you can get a fantastic vape under 200 if you are interested in them. More efficient by far, but its definitely a different type of high...some people don't like it as much, others prefer it greatly. fuckcombustion.com is a great place to read about them.

As for the florida scene, I'm from Jax and there isn't much there. The only headshop in FL i've seen thats particularly good would be Tobacco Leaf in tallahassee, if you are near g-ville it would be very worth the drive, they stock some great brands...I would check out their facebook for a preview. You may find better prices there than online..I always did but I was one of their first customers awhile ago and knew most of the employees...even so they had great prices on most things.

 

If you like beakers you may be able to find a HVY beaker under 100 locally, maybe t leaf, you can always call ahead and check (be sure to call it a waterpipe, florida's laws are awful and they can get in trouble for selling "bongs" so they only sell "waterpipes")
If not then I would look for a generic piece. The GC shop has a pretty big selection under 100, so you can look around here.

 

if your budget is $100 I would suggest putting as much into the tube itself as you can and not worry about accessories. to get a half decent ash catcher would probably cost you at least 80, generally over 120 starts the good ones.

But, I will say that in your range you can also consider china glass. Its much lower quality, and the construction is usually not so great..but..if you can be very careful with it (some will break just by being tipped over onto carpet, or if you set it down too fast...etc...) then you can get a tube with quite a bit of diffusion for a much lower cost. Most people who get china glass end up regretting it, as they usually break, but some people love theirs. Also, that quality of glass is more prone to just degrading over time with normal use. So, with that warning in mind...you could find a tube with a diffused downstem and probably an ok tree perk (probably 4 arm). It would give you a smoother hit than something like a HVY tube, but the nicer glass will last longer (unless you drop it on concrete or something like that), and if you upgrade the nicer tube down the line it can be a fantastic tube. (you could put those same upgrades on the china glass and it would function about the same, however, the chance of breaking is still an issue)

 

I think the OP said he wants to spend more than $100. In fact, he said price is no object (which is obviously not true but i digress)

 

wow, my bad, totally misread.

OP, that tube you linked is a very basic beaker bottom, the general favorite with those is ROOR, which is great quality glass and construction, but fairly low diffusion for the money. If you love beakers that would be a great option.

Since you aren't looking for anything too fancy then something like the sovereignty stemline or the 2011bc netline would offer fantastic diffusion in a fairly simple tube (no perks, just one great diffuser). If you like the beaker design though, I would look at HVY, SYN, Illadelph, and ROOR...they are all popular choices. HVY and SYN are priced well, and are quality tubes, ROOR and Illadelph are more expensive, and most of that is for the name, but they are also fantastic quality glass and construction. The only way to get a basic beaker to have great diffusion is with a better downstem, like a sovereignty gridded, an Alex K, or a Luke Wilson (leisure) downstem. A great A/C would also help a lot if diffusion is something you really want. Another option would be Sheldon Black's beakers, some of which come with 29mm joints and huge downstems that offer a ton of diffusion.

There aren't a lot of particularly wonderful beakers in terms of diffusion because they almost all use a standard downstem. Stemless tubes generally have better diffusion because they have better perks than a regular downstem. The best I've seen is a squidline beaker, but I've never seen one for sale, just videos and pics. So if prices is no issue and you can find one of those, that would be my highest recommendation.

Edit: for ashcatchers I would look at 2011bc. you may also be able to talk to the people at T leaf about ordering something if you can't have it delivered. My personal favorite would be a gridded showerhead.

 

if price isn't an object get a pillar. they run about a grand give or take for a non worked totally clear one. heady tubes can run up to ten grand for something like this