Some people have more discriminating palettes than others. Softened water will taste different than hard water due to the sodium or potassium ions exchanged in the softening process. The higher the hardness the more sodium or potassium is exchanged into the hard water to soften it and the more the taste is effected.

Many people install RO units under the kitchen sink for drinking and cooking water and many also plumb the RO to provide water to the fridge for ice cubes or the water in the door if you have that feature.

Some people install a "taste" (carbon) filter under the sink and are happy with that. This type of filter will make the water taster better(?) or different.

Looking back at your softener sizing thread and your water conditions... PH is a little high and iron and manganese. High PH will effect taste. Have you been using Iron Out or a similar product? IMO an RO is a better choice than a filter.

Have you been checking to see that the water holds 0 hardness all the way to regeneration?

I have not rechecked the hardness of the water. We are happy with the result so far (without checking actual numbers). The scaling is gone, which was the main reason for the softener.

We have not used Iron Out or any other products.

In case we go the filter route, are there any preferred filters? Same question for the RO route. Any preferred ROs? I believe I've read older threads that talks favorably of the Watts RO. is that still a good choice.
Thanks.

/Peter

Watts Premier ROs are good bang for the buck and they are carried by Costco and Sam's Club at good prices. They make under sink filters too.