edelbrock cylinder heads

On 340" to 422" engines I've run very successfully:
- factory castings: X,J, 915, 508. All were ported to varying extents by me.
- Edelbrock RPMs: cast cast, my own "stage 2" and Shady Dell stage 3s.
- I have not run the RHSs although I did very closely examine some. I think they are a great base head, but I wouldnt put any money into porting them. just step up to the next better thing.
So my recommendations knowing nothing other than what was posted initially and what I would do...

If someone is concerned with originality look, run factory iron castings and pay to have them done properly for your intended use.

If someone is looking at purely budget and wanting a modern build but not looking for max power I would use the RHS LA-X heads. I wouldnt touch the MA-X heads because the valvetrain adds so much to the cost you are in aluminum head range at that point.

If someone is looking for a head that is modern, lighter, needs very little to make decent numbers, and leaves room for growth later, the RPM head gets the knod.

Depending on your location, and your builder's opinion on what high quality is, the difference in cost to get a set of heads done, bolted on your engine, and running is very similar between all three possibilities. Reality is what it is and good heads cost money. I think the outright cheapest way to get a 360 to run in the 400hp range is the RHS heads. Next factory iron, last RPMs. These are not apples to apples comparisons unfortunately, so unless you have used a bunch of them, and seen the bills for running engines with them, you really don't "know". At least IMO.