I'm only familair with galfer but what are some other respected manufacturers? Namely I am looking at goodridge (good deal I saw) but I can't find a whole lot of reviews on them.

you know, i am curious about this too as to what it actually gives you....i want to get red brake lines just for aesthetic purposes but i am considering either just getting tubing to cover the lines or get new lines with red tubing....i am curious as to what the advantages would be in converting to newer, better, lines...

The advantage is that the ss lines wont expand under harsh braking conditions. Therefore giving you better braking feedback and better braking.

SS lines are SS lines, there is moderate debate on material for the fittings and that kind of thing but as for theperformance, its all the same. Now I wouldn't buy off brand or anything generic or "one size fits all" because the fittings have to be made for your bike.
I've never heard anything bad about goodridge and I know there are plenty of racers that use them, so they should work fine as long as the fittings are made for your bike.

I sell the exact same SS lines for industrial applications that they use for brake lines, its pretty standard stuff

as for what they do, they give you better feel at the lever for what the front tire is doing on the brakes and they don't stretch like rubber lines do so the braking force is stronger and more consistent. I tried stock lines vs SS lines at Road Atlanta (trackday one weekend with stock, racing a couple weeks later with galfer lines) and it made a pretty significant difference in feel and consistency. With the stock lines it started off fine but after say 6 laps I'd wind up pulling the lever all the way to the bar to get the same braking as I had been, this makes blipping the throttle difficult, so it was definitely an issue. I could have let the lever out a little but then the first few laps it would be too far out to comfortable brake/blip at the same time, so there was no great way to do it.

With the new lines, the lever travel was consistent from the first lap to the last every time (using samebrake pads).

Now that said, the SS lines aren't just a lot stronger overall, that job mostly belongs to the master cylinder and the calipers, the lines are just getting that force from the MC to the calipers. All they're really doing to make braking stronger is having less energy loss caused by stretching lines, I don't think you would really notice any more actual braking force on the street but I could be wrong.

hope this helps

I think that you can get better deals on Goodrige. That is what I use. Another brans is Spiegler. They offer many different color choices as well. Russell makes lines for some bikes too