If conns have lasted 80 years still looking like they are, (well most of them, that is), then choose a conn, a conn will klast you, I guarantee your lifetime, (as long as you do not drop it!!!). I like the cannonball soprano, but anything else, conn kicks butt. By a landlside the 12m gets my vote! Why? Why do you think Mulligan and Leon Chu, and Carles Lloyd, and David Wright still play (and played, in Mulligan's case that is) Conns? It's because they were ont afraid to try something that wasn't a Mark VI, ( I'm not saying that they are bad), Six Marks are some of the best horns to play these days. But a Conn you really can not go wrong. Heavy constuction, and a big fat tone!!