Anywhere to playtest 82z and ref54 side by side near T.O.?

[disgruntleddave]

i hate going back and forth to different places to test horns :x

[jimmitch]

Buy both of them !! I would love to have one of each.

[tommyboy]

Why not throw in a Keilwerth Shadow as well? :twisted:

[danyo]

go to long and mcquade... just call first, there a bunch near T.O. and im sure at least one will have both of those, as well as any other horn u would want to play.

[sjonesjrmd]

My experience is that the ref 54 was a bit more "stuffy" (whatever that is) than I liked and the Yamaha was soooooo much more responsive. I was playing on a metal link on both of them with a superial.
Like I said, Everybody has one (opinion and other orifice) but I ended up buying the Yamaha. And yes I like my 6 as well.
thanks.Hope that helped.:scratch:

[disgruntleddave]

I have a somewhat stuffy Mk6. Trust me, anything you call stuffy while on a reference is not stuffy.

I havent played a reference in too long, and really liked the UL 82z of a friend i tried once a while back.

The problem with the L&M in downtown toronto is that they don't carry yamahas. Cosmo music is the dealer of yamahas here, and I dont know if they have references (they didnt once upon a time - time to send an email!).

[Dr G]

My experience is that the ref 54 was a bit more "stuffy" (whatever that is)...

"Leaky"?

I would only consider that a valid test if I were going to buy such a horn and leave it in that state. 8-)

[danyo]

I have a somewhat stuffy Mk6. Trust me, anything you call stuffy while on a reference is not stuffy.

I havent played a reference in too long, and really liked the UL 82z of a friend i tried once a while back.

The problem with the L&M in downtown toronto is that they don't carry yamahas. Cosmo music is the dealer of yamahas here, and I dont know if they have references (they didnt once upon a time - time to send an email!).

I think the burlington (or brampton??) location is the yamaha dealer of the L and M locations

[Kelly Bucheger]

Don't know if this counts as sufficiently near T.O., but I've played both side by side at U-Crest Music in Buffalo. The only problem is the room you play them in: a teeny, over-stuffed storage room that's was way too live. Maybe bring a quilt or something....

(And of course, you'd want to give 'em a call before making the epic trek....)

[Saxplayer1]

Not sure if you're refering to the alto or tenor in this post. If alto, I just sold my Silver 82Z and purchased a Ref. 54. The Z is is certainly a nice horn and would definitely be my second choice in new altos today w/the exception of the Yani 9937. However, the Ref. 54 is simply a fuller deeper sounding horn. This depth doesn't change as you go into the upper register of the horn. On the Z, the upper register starts to thin out and is quite bright and piercing, yet it's a wonderfully resonant horn like the 54. My experience is the 54 is the best alto made today. Following this, the Z, the Shadow and the Yani's follow.

[Merlin]

I have a somewhat stuffy Mk6. Trust me, anything you call stuffy while on a reference is not stuffy.

I havent played a reference in too long, and really liked the UL 82z of a friend i tried once a while back.

The problem with the L&M in downtown toronto is that they don't carry yamahas. Cosmo music is the dealer of yamahas here, and I dont know if they have references (they didnt once upon a time - time to send an email!).

I believe L&M downtown DOES carry Yamahas.

[saxman06]

I would just suck it up and drive to the Woodwind & Brasswind in Elkhart, IN. . . I made the 6 hour trip there about a year and a half ago to buy a mouthpeice and some other stuff, and it was totally worth it! They'll put you in a practice room, and bring you just about any product in the store for you to try. . . I tested about 10 mouthpeices with 3 different ligatures, and I fell in love with my Meyer mouthpeice and Rovner ligature. I even had them check the stock on Yamaha YAS-82Z's in every finish and on a few other horns for when I drive out to test them this weekend. . . Hopefully be coming back with a new sax. Great store, excellent service. I felt like a kid in a candy store. . . no joke. Good luck, and keep us posted!

[disgruntleddave]

Wait - maybe I was off with that one. I konw the L/M near me (steeles) doesnt carry yamahas, and I was nearly certain that the downtown T.O. one didn't either. I'll check with a friend of mine who works at a L/M.

As for driving to buffalo, or farther, more or less out of the question at the moment. I want to play things easily, then take my time and find a buyer for my mk 6, then go again.

If there's a big price difference (which there will be with the exchange for the 54, while the 82zs were (last time i checked) priced better with respect to the american ones, i'll probably end up driving somewhere to the states for final playtesting and purchase, but at this point it's not gonna happen.

[Stretch]

I was in Cosmo Music in Richmond Hill a couple of weeks ago. They had 82Zs and Reference models too.

[danyo]

the Bloor ST. LM has yamaha yas 875's at least, i know cause i'm going there tomorrow and I made sure. but last time i went there they only had the yas 82z in UL. they have quite a good selection of pretty much everything, although they dont have any a992s right now... :(

[disgruntleddave]

I got a chance to run down to L/M on bloor after checking, and it did turn out that they had 82zs and ref54s and more. They didn't have a lacquered 82z, but i played the UL version and it is a fine horn. Also played an sx90, which was nice and powerful but I couldn't stand the keywork.

These, of course, matter not. The reference 54 was last and was just as great as i had feared. Now i have to find a buyer for my mk6 during the summer so i can go down to the US and buy a reference.

[Rubel]

MajinX,

I have a friend who has a great reference 54 alto. It's really superb. And I was trying a couple a few days ago, and they really sucked. Small sound, kind of nasal. Stuffy.

My point is, horns vary, a lot! I've tried the reference 54 matte finish tenor and alto at l&m and the tenor was fantastic! It was almost as good as my VI! The alto is really good too! (Maybe that's the one you tried?) Maybe you should buy it in toronto while there's one you know you like. That's what I would do.

Btw, are you in music school?

Dave

[disgruntleddave]

heh, it's been a while.

i still have the VI. It's working fine for me at the moment, although it still has more resistance than I want and i love the ref54 tone more.


I'm in school, not for music. I'm one semester away from having an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. I'll probably be getting a cheap tenor to start on as a grad. present. Once i have a job outa here i'll probably sell my VI and buy a ref54.

[WorldIRC]

You gonna let me sell you that Tenor ;)

[saxobari]

Allo I sented you a PM,
Saxobari