Coulda swore we discussed this recently.
It always has, always is and always shall come down to personal preference. Unless you're looking for something "authentic" based off of what you played on back in your day, what matters is what you feel comfortable with here.
The only "wrong answer" here is that there is an "absolute answer". In all the years of competitive play, I've never seen a situation where everyone is absolutely fine using the same stick/button hardware as everyone else. It's like a bowling ball. Drill it for you, not everyone else.
In my American cabs, I use Happ/IL since that's what is closest to what was originally in those cabinets back in the days. For my tournament stick and candy cab,
JLF TP 8YT.
Edit: The JLF, once you get use to Japanese hardware in general, requires less wrist/arm movement compared to a Happ/IL. *My* reactions come out quicker on this stick, but again, mileage varies depending on who you are. Depending on the restriction plate you have installed, this will also alter how you execute moves (square allowing a guide for the corners ((down forward, up forward, up back, down back)), octagonal allowing for a notch for every "side" of the stick ((down, down forward, forward, up forward, up, back up, back, back down)). Happ/IL has no restriction plate per say. If you're the type of player that likes "feeling" where the stick is, you can still play based off of how the bottom of the shaft hits the switches (but its still a world apart). Perfect 360's are hell if you need that "feeling", because there is absolutely nothing there to tell you where you're at (not restriction plate and no switches).
Good luck.