I wonder if it is not an issue with power delivery (engine response/holeshot/bottom end) as much as it is pump efficiency (hookup and processing). A nice little free mod that will help a good bit with hookup is blueprinting the stator section of the pump. All those little casting bosses, rounded edges on the vanes and the rough textured finish make for a lot of bubbles and water separation. If you look at your pump stream about 15-20 feet behind you when going from low speed to immediate full open, and you see larger bubbles surfacing instead of millions of little ones it means you are boiling the water from over spinning or under-loading your prop. A shot pump seal, worn out wear ring, worn out impeller, or too low of a pitched impeller will do this and likewise reduce hookup quite noticeably. I am running a Hooker 9/15 with blueprinted pump and R&D pump stuffer to compliment the large hub impeller and love it. No issues with pump efficiency at all. I also recently changed out my stock reduction nozzle with a Protec 85.5mm exit diameter and gained a little bit more
Oh I should also mention, I had to include 2mm of shims behind the stock rubber coated OEM shim. The only reason was because when tightened up the impeller would lock up the pump, it required two 1mm shims installed for the impeller to spin freely, I left it at that. Like john zigler mentioned, I wanted to keep my impeller as close to the vanes as possible for maximum efficiency.