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TWO1 vs Pro One Tenor Review

8K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  liggy 
#1 · (Edited)
This is a quick comparison between these two Tenors.
Bought the TWO1 late 2019 from Sax.co.uk. I just received new in the box Antigua Pro One tenor from EBay.

background..played SA80 Alto from early 80s till switched to Tenor about 6 years ago then Conn NWII > YTS621st gen >1936 10M > Yany TWO1

progression was to find tone that pleased me the Yamaha brought the ergonomics back in check but was too bright and I kept the 10M because it was golden in most respects. Went to Yany because it bridged new ergonomics and played darker than the 62 and is top for materials, key action and flexible tone.

The Pro One was an interesting piece to me and I was attracted to the Tone, most of its features vs the base Yany and its look.

I unboxed the Pro1 yesterday and gave it a good run last night.
Well packaged, case is nicely built, smooth zipper action, nicely sculpted and 2 pouches on front. The accessories are better than expected. Leather padded neck strap, and playable base mouthpiece with a 5ish opening.

Vintage Lacquer is very nice, engraving is Tastefully done and not over the top. So much better than the amateur train tracks on my expensive Yanagisawa.
Keywork has nice pearls throughout and a rounded Bis key not convex like on the Yany! For the record they were not sharp or edgy and feel great under the fingers. The left pinky table is linked like the high end WO10 series and works very well. The action feels very close to that of the Yany. The placement of the High F# feels better on the Yani and the palm keys also feel less cramped than the Pro 1. Honestly, I may get used to it because initially I Thought the palm keys felt awkward on the Yany but I learned to walk well with them.
After I removed all the corks holding down the keys I got out my leak light.
the pro one was set up better and closed flatter than my Yany that was checked over by Sax.co. I ended up bending a few keys and trimming some felt bumpers on the Yany. Not necessary on the P1 that was last seen by Antigua.
The P1 did play better as the night wore on and the pads and keywork finally saw some action! Not sure how old this unit is but it's likely a few years old and the pads were decently seated.

I started by quickly doing a run on the Yani and the started testing the P1. The tone is similar between these two, but the P1 seems more free blowing. The Bell is 6" on Yany and 6.25 on P1. The P1 sits higher in stand as the bore is larger as well. The P1 was a new dance partner and did its best to lead me along the way. The lower end of the P1 is fabulous and with the slicker pinky table it let me quickly flow smoothly between the lower notes. The ringed tone holes in the last 5 notes may give it an edge as well?
I didn't really A to B them in all respects. The P 1 was better in the low register and. Had a very sweet sound through to the top. The P1 did feel freer blowing and may have been a bit brighter than the Yani. P1 has metal Pisoni Resos while the Yany has plastic Pisonis. The P1 for sure had more projection. Intonation is excellent on both.

Yani is top notch build and the inside of the bell is polished where bell meets lower body. I could see the edge of the bell in the P1 and thought they could have done better here. Will I notice a difference in sound because of that?

In the end, and after sleeping on it I truly think that the P1 will be a better player for me. For some they will consider this a step down. The only downside to me is some fit and perhaps precision work in areas I don't see. What I do see is lovely vintage lacquer, nice engraving, well setup keywork, nice pearls including high F# and G #. A sax with solid tone, character and very high initial quality. The keywork was tight, very smooth and hopefully will remain that way for a long time.

The Yany is going up for sale….
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#4 ·
This is a great review and comparison! I saw your post a few days ago asking for advice but too bad that you could not get the answer you expected from that post (mainly because not many people own a Pro one and Yani tenor at the same time). Now you find it by yourself! I have an Antigua intermediate soprano and it compares well with my Yani S901, while the S901 is still superior at the almost all aspects (but maybe marginally) to the Antigua sop. But the Antigua sop I have is the 3 series while the Pro one line is a totally different story. I also bought an Antigua Powerbell Tenor last year and start to play tenor more than Alto and Soprano. I like my Powerbell quite well but this is the only Tenor I have so I am actually tempted to get a big four horn for tenor. The T901 (TWO1) is actually on the top of my list and I am looking for a used one locally. However right now your review and comparison kind of drive me away from my tempt😂. Btw John (who is a senior member here) has bunches of Yani tenors and an Antigua power bell tenor and he will have better insights/opinions on this object than me if he join in the conversation.
 
#5 ·
How long have you had your new horn? Have you played it on a gig? In my experience it can take several weeks or longer to learn the nuances of a new horn/mouthpiece. Unless you're strapped for cash you might want to play the Antigua for a while before selling the Yani.
 
#6 ·
Thank you for posting this. I also saw your previous post and hoped you would give us your impressions after receiving your ProOne. As saxmsy mentioned, I've owned several different Yani tenor models (I am a big fan of Yanagisawa saxophones) and I also own an Antigua Powerbell tenor. I've read comparisons of the Powerbell vs ProOne Antiguas and get the sense there might be some similarity, though the ProOne has additional features and is consistently described as being darker-sounding than the Powerbell. I would definitely not describe my Powerbell as bright-sounding. My comments on Antigua vs Yani would be quite consistent with yours: both have excellent, modern key-work, but the Antigua plays and sounds bigger, and in my opinion the sound of the Antigua is inherently richer, whereas the sound of the Yanis I've owned was more "neutral" and waiting to be molded by the player...if that makes sense. Over time I think you may find that the two tenors have different strengths...one is not necessarily better than the other, though one of the two may be better for you. Enjoy!
 
#10 ·
Thank you all, I decided to do this write up because so very little exists on the Pro One. I am continuing to break this Sax in and it just keeps getting better. I think that this is probably one of the most underrated saxes out there. Glad I got my hands on this one
 
#11 · (Edited)
Thank you all, I decided to do this write up because so very little exists on the Pro One. I am continuing to break this Sax in and it just keeps getting better. I think that this is probably one of the most underrated saxes out there. Glad I got my hands on this one
[/QUOTE
I’m with you. I picked one up, essentially new, at a very used price, because I’ve been reading about them and was curious and because I didn’t think I would lose much in resale.
I had been playing a 10m, and also had a P Mauriat 66rul, a B&S Blue Label, and a Mark VI that I had just had $500 worth of work done on.
I kept playing this and recording it and comparing it to my other horns and over and over I found myself liking my sound more on the Pro One than on my other horns. The 10M is an outstanding one, and has a smokier, sultrier sound for me, which I love, but, bottom to top, I like the tone on the Pro One more. It is rich, creamy, gutsy, sweet—-as you choose.
It’s amazing that it hasn’t caught on. When I think of making a comparison, I think, ‘somewhere between a Keilwerth and a really good Mark VI.’ But I’m not sure my comparisons are worth much to anyone else. Just my anecdotal two cents.
I put this out there for those looking to find a really quality horn who MAY have a chance to try one.
 
#13 · (Edited)
It is great to see the update from OP regarding the comparison, but I actually have a slightly different experience with OP regarding Antigua vs Yany tenor. I don't have the Pro one model, but the Powerbell model (which is their entry pro line). I guess the main difference between these two models from Antigua is that the Pro one has several features that Powerbell don't, such as custom neck, non-sticky G pad, triple arms, etc. Other than those features I believe these two models share same tube design and material. While my Antigua Powerbell plays well, I feel that the TWO1 I recently purchased is better than Antigua Powerbell at almost every aspect. Especially for ergos I feel Yany is much better than Antigua Powerbell (I actually like the palm key on Yany a lot). Personally, I'd say to me they are in different leagues. But I never play the Pro one model so based on the OP's comparison I can imagine that Pro one must plays much better than the Powerbell line.
 
#14 ·
I have heard comparison videos between the Powerbell and the Pro One and they are quite different. Powerbell sounds more 10M ish to me , the Pro one has a richer focused tone, I prefer it to the TWO 1.

As I have said before the Pam keys are the only thing I miss from the Yany and the lighter weight.

One thing I really was annoyed with was that Yany mouthpieces have a smaller shank. The neck cork on my Yany was too small for my other mouthpieces. I used tape to build up the neck cork!!!!!
 
#19 ·
That is really serious craftsmanship if Antigua has tapered cork used for neck cork. It worked well tonight but my boss key starting sticking and messed up my runs tonight arrgh!

I thought about advertising here but I haven’t been permitted to sell here since I hadn’t hit 50 posts. Maybe I can now!

I think I hit 50!!!!

But what now? Must I pass a test? What is your favorite color? Blue no Green……oh no
Mr Bill. Save me
 
#20 ·
I recently recorked my Pro One alto neck. It took a whole lot of sanding - to get any alto piece to fit I had to sand the cork down to a very thin layer. I wrote to Antigua wondering if they had some special cork spec or taper to the neck and this was their reply:

"Thank you for your support to Antigua Winds and for patiently waiting.

About your inquiry about the uniqueness of the Pro One neck.
After checking with our RD team, they want to suggest that if you want to change the cork by yourself,
better prepare a really thin cork to use, like 1.2mm thin.
It'll be more suitable and save lots of energy for the sanding.

Hope the information above is helpful for you."

The horn really speaks well and has a nice dark timbre to it. I really like it. I do favor the ergonomics/keywork of my Yamaha and Selmers but the Pro One has really got a lot going for it. I bought it as a backup and for bar gigs but it's become a favorite.
 
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