I'm not a fan of steel. Very sharp, very harsh sounding in my experience.
Ya, some can be. But that Yammy Stage Custom and Pearl steel sure come off great in all the demos I've heard, and the basic character of each drum seems to go with it from demo to demo. Did not care for the demos of the Yamaha that's just badged "Steel," as it defines what you're talking about, but the Pearl and SC come off pretty great to me.
Let's be honest here, Chris...Paul McCartney, or anyone in the actual record business, is unlikely to call me ever. At best I'll maybe do some sessions with a local band. And as you may remember, I already own the best snare in the known universe. I just don't want to take it to gigs at some corner dump where people are within ripping off or falling into the set distance. I don't know why I've gotten all precious about this snare when I never did before, but I guess drummer horror stories will do that to you.
So my MO so far is to take the words of drummers whose opinions come from a much broader gear background than mine, and buy stuff that may not make up the set of my dreams but has super tone anyway. So I now have two very solid choices of metal snares that are easy to find at a hundy or less, as well as a world of non-drummers selling occasional really nice stuff they don't know all that much about at basement prices. I may go cheap but it's always well-chosen cheap. I'm relying on that, my undeniable charm which you've seen on constant display here since I joined

my abilities at singing harmonies, and rock solid but unspectacular drumming to form a confluence of positivity around my lack of recent experience and cheapness.