Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Buying water softener,need advice.

I would like to buy a water softener but I have many ?s. From the research I have done I would like to get one with a fleck 7000 control. My budget allows $600.00 max,haven't been able to find one for that. Had my local culligan man over this morning,my hardness is 16-17 grains,turbidity 350-400,will a softener filter this out,do I need to use a prefilter. We use about 3000 gal. a month,water line is 3/4'' He said that their salt is better than others and that you do not need to use near as much,is this true? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated,thanks.

I'll leave it to the experts to decide on whether or not their salt is better. However, I have a Culligan water softener and I haven't had to refill my salt yet and I've had it installed for about 7 months. I only have 2 people using the water, but that is good. My friends who bought other softeners have had to refill theirs much more often.

One of the main reasons is that the softener I bought only regenerates itself when it is about to run out of soft water. My friends regenerates on a time scale (once or twice weekly). So he is basically wasting salt if he regenerates early. That is one of the reasons why the Culligan saves you salt. I'm not sure about the quality of the salt though.

Salt is salt is salt is salt is salt!!!!!!! The only difference is between pellet and crystalized (rock). I don't reccomend the rock salt because of the impurities in it, which can cause problems with your brining. Your budget is pretty low for a high end company like Culligan, but remember, you get what you pay for. Check out the equipment really well, and see what they are offering......Do I get soft water to my house 100% of the time?.......How much salt (in pounds) does the unit use per regenersation?.....How often does it regenerate?.......Does it require ANY electricity?........simple questions, but important.