smhowse: Thanks for the info. I found a couple of players in my area over the weekend who, like yourself, have played both the Cannonballs and P. Mauriats and gave the slight edge to the Mauriat. However, one of them also mentioned the Eastman tenors as a good deal. The Mauriat that I’m looking at is a demo model with two slight blemishes in its lacquer; so, the price range is about the same as the Cannonball. I think the Mauriats are a bit overpriced compared to the other Taiwanese-fabricated horns but the demo is being offered at a good discount.