I have a 355 cubic inch small block with AFR 190 heads and 10.1 CR. I first installed a Crane CCH-296 cam (234 / 242 duration at .050 or 296 / 304 advertised duration). Lift was .473 / .478 with standard 1.5 ration rockers. Lobe separation was 110 degrees. This cam was horrible. I ran something like a 15.8 in the quarter. I could and did spin the motor to 7000 RPM but there was no horsepower.

I replaced the cam with a Crane HMV-278 (222 / 234 duration at .050 or 278 / 290 advertised duration). Lift is .467 / .494 with a lobe separation of 114 degrees. The first cam sounded like a race car - lots of 'lope'. The second cam is much calmer and I pull 17" vacuum. When I drove it for the first time with this new cam, it was like a totally different car. I could perhaps experiment with something between these two but I've been too satisfied to change. I have a Lunati 60104 Thumper and a Crane CCH-288 new in the box but the current cam works well enough I can't see more experimentation.

If I learned anything it's to resist getting too radical with only 10.1 CR. Go with the lower separation angle if you want to sound good, but keep the duration reasonable if you want torque and power.

 

Reading statements like these is why I went with a voodoo 262 cam on my sper budget 355 build with dart old school iron eagles and 4 relief flat tops. I used steel shim gaskets to try to sqeeze every bit of compression out of it that I could without having things decked. I in hindsight, had I known now what I know now I would have bought a scat 383 crank instead of the scat 350 crank to replaced the original that needed to be turned.
I too have a small collection of cams while accumulating parts to build my engine as it was my first with only forums and youtube for knowledge.. Had a thumpr I sold due to reading it was subpar for anything but sound as the priority... and I have a 268he cam that came in the original shortblock I bought before tearing it down I decided against since it was too big for my factory transmission and factory 2000 converter and the type of street driving I do (Its built for fun on the street not track)
I downloaded dyno2000 software and after playing with different combinations the 262 cam actually gave me the best powerband in the best rpm range with the torque I want for fun street driving.. The issue issue I have now is I have the itch for MORE..lol but I think ill wait for the right roller block to come along to start with.

 

I used this cam (small base circle) in a383 with weiand dual plane (not air gap) Edlebrock aluminum heads 11:1 (at 5000 ft) 1.6 rockers and 650 cfm carb and the midrange torque was very impressive.

 

I second this, recently put this same cam (but 4/7 swap) in my 10.1 383. Torque everywhere and it sounds SO good at idle.

 

One thing a 108 LSA does better than a 110 or 112 or 114 LSA is create a greater depression (more vacuum) during the overlap period.
Of course too much( IE 106 on a 350) and you suck a large portion of the fresh intake charge out the exhaust valve, at least at lower RPMs. Below peak torque.
Testing has shown that a greater depression during the overlap period during initial phase of intake is better than greater duration in the latter stages of the intake phase.
Since time is of the essence during higher RPM levels then a higher flowing head is going to allow a greater intake charge into the cylinder given all else remains largely the same.
This means that better flowing heads allows for less duration and or less overlap to achieve the same desired torque and HP.
Now combine a better flowing head with a cam that gives the greatest intake depression and proper exhaust valve opening/closing and you got a great combo for getting more intake charge to the cylinder.
Of course keeping the intake charge speed high up to the valve is of importance too. So if you want a decent low to mid range you need to choose the volume of the intake tract correctly. Use a 200 cc head where a 180 is optimum and your gonna get a dog of an engine until peak torque, which is now later in the RPM due to the excessive volume in the head and the consequential slowing of the fresh charge.
Slowing the charge means less fresh charge into the cylinder each time the valve opens since the valve is only open X number of degrees of rotation and that number of degrees is less and less time as the RPM rises.
Another consideration is the intake manifold. An RPM dual plane is good for higher RPM. It slows the intake charge to each cylinder, but provides some cylinder "sharing" which is of benefit at higher RPM. So it's a trade off. Decide where you want your performance.