I read something in another thread that I think is actually spot on - If you want cutting edge, roll your own pack using something like MultiMC. If you want a semi-stable collection of mods and all the work is done for you (ID conflicts resolved, config files created, etc.) but you may be a version or two behind, then use FTB.
The latest news Slowpoke has posted said that we will be getting Recommended builds when vanilla 1.6 drops. Elo has said she is currently working on 1.5.x. as of 4 weeks ago. She also said she's more likely just doing a port/bug fixes and not adding much, if anything. That means that she may very well have 1.5.x ready by the time FTB is ready to go to 1.5 stable (versus the beta builds). Anything beyond that is speculation and just driving yourselves crazy.
tl;dr: It will come out when it comes out.