Between curved vs. straight neck - The listener (or you) will not notice much of a difference - only in that the curved neck is a little more ergonomic and your horn will probably be pointed more towards the floor. That will create a perception of perhaps a warmer sound, but from 10 feet away, nobody would be the wiser. As far as curved sops, stick with Yani. Sop designs are fickle, and curved even moreso. I would only trust Yani in that regard and have previously owned and played one that I though was great - but the sound was too loud in my face. Some people like that. I didn't, and underplayed as a result of it so I went back to my straight bodied sop.