Some dealers/sales guys will tell you that a wakeplate/trim tab is a fix for a bad hull design. That may have been true back in the cave man days... but I know that:
1) Supra designs their hulls to make full use of their wake plate. I like it because it gives you direct control over the wake shape.
2) Tige also designs their hulls with their wake plate (TAPS) in mind. Although TAPS works... IMO... not a replacement for ballast to get BIG wakes. Check out March 2006 WakeBoarding magazine.
As far as the wedge... opinions will vary... I look at it like this. If you have a real mix of riders and abilities on board... it is a fast way to add or remove about 1200# of ballast equivalent.
Crank your B*ll Sh*t filter to up to maximum... its boat show season