Sorry. I cannot vote. I would not pick either one of those. I think you need to expand the scope of your search. Most of us on this Forum have faced the problem of finding a good soprano sax to start with. But many of us came to the problem with a lot more experience than you so we started with a wide scope. The problem is similar for most of us not because we have a limited budget but because we don't know, going into the search, how important the sop will be to us. I started life as a pianist, a drummer, then a trombonist, then a trumpet player and that was it until in my 30's I decided to check out saxophones. I thought I might have been missing something. I had a very limited budget because my kids were small and going through clothing like crazy. I bought a very cheap tenor sax. I knew very little about saxes and had no close acquaintences in the business. I had moved a 1000 miles away from all my musician friends from when I worked the big bands. That horn was a terrible one. I got what I paid for. It did not even have a brand. It was made somewhere in Indiana. I found out how bad it was when my son took it in to his band teacher in school who was a fine reed player. He sent a note home. My kid got a new Bundy alto as a rental and went on to have a great time. I played that Bundy when I wanted a to play a good horn. My tenor worked ok above D1 and I continued to "learn" on it. (What I learned were bad habits.) I never knew what kind of mouthpiece it had either.
So here we are 30 years later and, when I bought a new tenor, I bought a Yanagisawa - what I consider the best horn made. When I considered the sop I did have a limited budget and I considered a Woodwind and Brasswind used $500 horn. I also considered a LA Sax, a Jupiter, a Yamaha, a Yanagisawa, a keilweorth, and even a Selmer of Paris. But I did not know how much of commitment I wanted to make. Was the sop going to be just a fad or the real thing for me? I chose the Antigua Winds from Dave Kessler for under $1000 and have been very satisfied. The horn is almost two years old. It has turned out to be the REAL DEAL for me. It is now my main "axe."
Someday I may buy a new Yanagisawa S991 when I find $3000 unattached and have worn the finish off my 590LQ. I'll probably get that one from Kessler too.
