I've had a similar, if more conservative journey than Ron regarding hone and lapping plate acquisition. My main workhorse was, and is, the DMT D8C. At Ron, and ChrisL's recommendation I bought the DMTXX 120 and it does eat through rock at a fantastic rate, but it leaves a surface that requires too much work afterwards, so I only use it in extreme cases.

My DGLP is much slower than it was 7 years ago. To the point where I lean toward the old D8C for initial lapping. When I get down to less than half of the pencil grid to go I'm usually losing patience and I reach for the Atoma 1200. It works so well I would use it for the entire job, but I want to conserve the surface and make it last as long as possible before it begins to slow down.

Thanks to Ron for a great reference thread.