Hey man, i know what your going through on this. I would stay away from anytihng that isnt a yamaha, yani, or selmer. Ive had REALLY bad experiences with some of the random smaller horn companies. The Yamaha YBS-52, which is the intermediate model, is a little more expensive but its worth every dime. Buying a yamaha is an investment, because they are well made and will not fart out on you a year or 2 in. I havent played it, but ive heard the same of the Yani B-901. A friend of mine plays a 991, and he swears it is the most well made horn on the market, but that is the pro model. As far as playing jazz on Bari goes, its a strange world. Everyone says selmers are the greatest vintage saxophones, and i think they are in terms of altos and tenors, but in my opinion, NO ONE has EVER made a better sounding bari than CONN did in the 30's. They have no low A key, but their sound is awesome. I know, this just made it more confusing to look for, but if i were you, I would get the YBS-52, because its something you'll have for a while, and if in a few years you need to step up to a pro (AKA Unnecessarily overpriced) horn, at least you will always have your Yamaha to fall back on. Good luck with your bari search...

I had to rent a Bari for a recording session a few years back, and it was a Yanagisawa. It played really nice even though I had to use a bass clarinet mouthpiece. I took it home a few days before the session, and I didn't want to take it back. I had her down low the whole song and she had a nice throaty sound. Best of luck to you :)

Haven't tried any Mauriat's though they do seem interesting. Folks over at SOTW seem to think they are very good, though sound completely different than Yanis and Yamahas.