I threw 500 out there not as much for the price of a BB but as a price I currently refuse to pay for a snare drum...but wow you guys have been a great help thanks.... It looks price will end up deciding for me.. and my intrest is now peeked to check out an Omar snare I hear alot of good stuff about them including this link though I've always preferred the 14" size.
I think price is a good thing to go by as long as you won't longingly look back at 'the one that got away'.
Not one player here has sad anything disparaging about some of the BB knockoffs. I own a 5.5 x 14 Yamaha Paul Leim snare and it's a great BB knockoff. Check out Paul Leim gushing on You Tube about it. All of these drums will be satisfying drums to play.
The other side of it is getting down to a player's personal experiences and as I read on another forum, the psychological aspect of owning the drum you choose. If you think you'll always be longing for a Black Beauty, then save your pennies and enjoy what you own until you can afford the top-o-the-line Luddie.
I'll tell you what I did. I had a hankering for a Black Beauty myself. I live in the Southern California area and decided to combine a trip taking my daughter to an event she was attending with a trip to Todd Trent's drum shop in Ontario, California about an hour away. I brought my Paul Leim model with me with the intent of buying a new batter head for it and installing it while in the shop.
Totally worthwhile trip. The shop had a bunch of nice snare drums, wood and metal with plenty of brand new Ludwig snares (Supra 6.5 and 5 x14, Black Beauty 5 and 6.5 x 14, Black Magic 5 x 14). I bought the head (Remo CS Coated Underside Dot if it matters) and tuned up the Paul Leim snare. I tried to tune as closely to pitch to the snare I was test tapping against.
The short version of this story is that I came away hearing a more pleasing sound to my ears from my Paul Leim brass snare then the equivalent BB model (5 x 14). There were some variables. The Ludwig had a single ply Ludwig coated head (Luddies reso also) that is stock on these drums and I was playing a CS Dot head. Also the BB closest to mine was a 5 x 14. I also had Puresound 16 strand snare wires on mine (inquiring minds want to know).
However - I also came away with some other feelings. One being that I did see the 6.5 x 14 BB as able to get a closer sound than my Paul Leim. That's not being completely fair in assessment as their is an equivalent Paul Leim model in 6.5 size. I didn't have one of that size to compare so it could have gone either way if I did. I just new that my PL 5.5 x 14 sounded sweeter than the Ludwig of the same size.
I do believe a 6.5 x 14 BB is in my future. I'm just not chomping at the bit yet. I do know that I love my Acrolite and that when throwing any of these drums under a recording mike, you may start to hear differences that make a BB really work and others 'kind of' work - but I can't say that absolutely. I have no direct experience with it.
Side note: The drum that sounded best overall to me that day was a 6 or 6.5 x 14 George Way maple drum. I REALLY wanted to walk out of the store with that drum but....common sense won the day.
So to conclude this small novella: get the drum you feel makes sense of the choices that are listed. Replace the stock heads with your fav (Mine are Aquarian Texture Coated, Evans Coated Reverse Power Dot and Remo Coated CS Underside Dot) and tune it up in a good sounding room. I predict plenty of joy.
Jim