Posted by Rick Denney on January 05, 2003 at 02:54:58:
In Reply to: Re: Re: advice posted by Brendan Bohnhorst on January 03, 2003 at 11:49:28:
I've played Kings that were dead sounding and have stuffy fourth valves. But I've also played Kings where you coult hardly tell the difference in sound and response between a fourth-valve F at the bottom of the staff and an open third partial. You can't judge Kings by a sample of one.
The Miraphone 191 I played was indeed more open, but I did'nt find it as responsive. Frankly, it was more work to play. I haven't played them side-by-side, though, so I can't really compare them.
The best Kings have been the opposite of stuffy; much more sound comes out than you expect given the air going in.
Given their level of quality control at this price point, I would not want to seriously test one without having the dealer go over it first to correct valve alignment and the like.
Rick "thinking the Miraphone provides good QC for that extra coupla grand" Denney