The EX III Keilwerth is made in Czech rebublic is is not as highly regarded as the EX I and IIs made in germany. Exs are Keilwerths intermediate sax;the SXs and SX(R) atre Keilwerth pro models. Go w/ the Yanagisawas over the EX III. If you put a SX-90 or SX-90R against the Yanagisawas;it's a matter of taste. Both SXs and A-901/902s are great!!!. Keilwerths are made in Germany(SX-90 and SX-90R,EX IIIs Czech republic) while Yanagisawas are made in Japan. Yanagisawas have a small bore and bright sound while Keilwerths are big bore saxes w/ a dark broad tone. http://www.clarinetperfection.com/snsax.htm#Keilwerth

 

Thank you very much sycc, I (think) I have decided on the A901, I found the SXs a bit too high in the price range. Now it's a matter of finding the money!

 

Another thing; do you think these saxophones would be right for someone of my experience? If these are too much of a beginner/advanced model for me, I might think about other options...

 

g'day mate
Skip the EX, the Yani should be a better choice. How much are you paying for it? Are you buying it locally? Someone here could probably hook you up for a much much better price, even with shipping and everything included.

And also, the Yani isn't going to be 'too much' for a beginner. Quite the opposite, it'll be better for you. I find the classifications of saxes pretty stupid if you ask me. But then again, I would usually only go for saxes classified in the 'professional' level by some. Then again, people classify the 901 as an intermediate, when truly it is as good as many other 'pro' horns.

 

Yes, a good modern horn will not be hard to play, rather the opposite, so they only way it might be "too much" for you would be in price.

Actually IMO the newer Yanis are pretty full sounding on the bottom end so are fairly flexible in sound. No one will kick you out of concert band for playing a Yani. I know the Yanis are mechanically solid and tend to stay in adjustment; I don't know how Keilwerth EX compares here but there may be some concerns. A Yani has a pretty good scale. I've heard from a teacher that the Keilwerths have some intonation quirks to be learned.

 

OK. the JKs are out of the question for me now, thanks again to all the contributors so far. It's down to the Yanagisawa A901 and the Yamaha YAS-62, which a music store has offered me at a cheap price. Please, I need your help to decide;

1. Which will be more faithful, ie which can be used even as a vintage sax,
2. How does the sound differ? I have heard that they both sound good in different ways, but unfortunately I have no way to test them side-by-side as no music store wants to supply them both.
3. Just out of curiosity, are they sold over in US for this price as well? Here they are NZ$4500 (US$3000) and NZ$3900 (US$2600), Yanagisawa the more expensive and Yamaha the cheaper one

I am open to other suggestions as well. Thanks

 

Yanagisawa reveiws: http://www.saxophones.co.uk/alto_sax_tests_Yanagisawa.htm Yamaha reviews: http://www.saxophones.co.uk/alto_sax_tests_Yamaha.htm and some stephen howard reveiews: http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Alto/Yamaha_YAS62.htm and http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Alto/Yanagisawa_992_alto.htm (992 not a 901 but a yani nonetheless)

 

I prefer the Yani 901 over a Yamaha 62II. Both are nice horns, however, the Yani has a fuller richer sound with better clarity from my experience. I've owned a few examples of each and both are nice horns with great keywork. However with Yamaha, I prefer the sound of the older 62 to the new 62II. You can't go wrong with the 901.

 

Cheapest mail order price for the Yani A901 is $2350. The Yamaha is considerably cheaper.

I agree the 901 has a fuller sound. It is perhaps slightly more "vintage" sounding than a Yamaha. It's my experience the Yanagisawa is more flexible. If you push it it puts out a lot of sound yet can be played well softly too. It seems the 62 will resist being pushed as hard.

If you're on a tight budget, consider a used sax. You can usually get better deals from the owner than a store. Classified ads, craigslist. A good source is high school students who quit playing.

 

As a teacher I've seen a lot of Yamaha's and they are okay as a student's/beginners / budget horn. I recently bought two Yanagisawa's 901 for my students (slightly bigger budget from the music department) and I was pleasantly surprised about their outstanding preformance. Technically very well build, warm tone which allows plenty of own input.
Definetly my choice over the Yamaha now.
Keilwerth I know only from the sx90R range so I can't really comment on the other series. The Yani however delivers a lot of saxophone for the money. I think they're hard to beat right now.

 

Thanks very, very much to EVERYONE who replied. Thanks to your help, I have made my decision. I had a chance to try the 901 and the 902, and the difference in the sound is, in my opinion, worth more than the extra $1000 I'll have to strain. I'll be making my order on wwbw shortly, and I'll be waiting for my shiny new Yanagisawa A-902 to arrive. (with a Hite Premier mouthpiece)
Again, my appreciation to everyone.

 

You can't go wrong w a Yani. My daughter's had her A-901 for 3 years now and loves it!!!!!