The horn showed up this afternoon and I got a little time on it and some time inspecting it. The seller (a music store) described it as having been recently overhauled. The pads look pretty fresh, but there are definitely some setup issues. It feels a little squishy in the pinky keys. Key heights seem a little high and the key springs feel a little heavy, but that's coming from my 10M, where they are pretty low and pretty light because 10M's are great like that. I'm not sure what to expect from the King where that's concerned, but I can get around OK on it.
There's definitely a leak in the right hand around the E/D keys and the articulated G# mechanism doesn't work (pressing the G# key with the F or lower closed still lets the pad move a bit too much). Same with the 1/1 Bb. I think I can take a pass at turning those adjuster screws a little bit to see if I can get them to work for me.
The low C key guard was definitely damaged in shipping. It was mashed to the side so that the key cup was actually hitting one of the screws and couldn't close. I took a photo and sent it to the seller, but for now, I've just bent it back enough that the pad can pass through there. Thankfully the pad height is not set on the key guard.
Nevertheless, once I got the C moving okay, I put my Link on there and dug in. And this horn has got something really good going on! The tone is fatter than my VI, but has a similar kind of warm, fuzzy edge on it. The Conn has a big, fat sound as well, but the tone seems a little clearer and woodier. It's hard to describe, but I can tell I like this horn already. Where it stands relative to the others is yet to be seen, given the work it needs, but I am already pretty into it. If it shapes up the way I think it will, I could see this giving my other tenors a run for their money.
Also, intonation seems really good. Pretty much spot on top to bottom with my Link, aside from the D, which is flat in both registers. It's also stuffy in both registers, so I think that just means the C pad has to vent a little more.
I'm not sure what to do about the seller. The shipping damage is bad, but I'm not sure how much is attributable to damage in shipping (relatively straightforward to negotiate) and how much is a mediocre in-house overhaul (impossible to negotiate). I'm confident that if I took it to Lee's Sax Worx here in SF, they'd be able to get the kinks worked out. For an arm and a leg, of course, but I like them and they do outstanding work. I know from experience with work I've had done certain other places and friends' instruments that less high quality shops "overhauled" that I am spoiled. All the same, though, I paid what I think was a pretty good price ($1300 before shipping) and I'd expect a good tenor at that price to need a little bit of work.