dont know bout hte 991 havnt played it.. i like my 901.. its your basic intermediate/professional horn.. nice construction, professional qualities, yet modest. some complain about the tone being too bright, some say "tinny" but the tone you get out of it is the tone u want, work on it.. it has every saxes faults.. sticky G# key, certain querks here and there.. the one thing ive heard many ppl complain about on other horns are felt and corks falling off and that has yet to happen with my horn.. try em out and see for yourself.. i dont know what henry.riley payed for his horn but i got mine for just under 1k... the retail was like 3700 or somthin but they had it for around 1600 and i traded my sax in and they helped me out and bumped it to like.. 950.. so id give you a goahead on it.. the horn is what you make of it.. its a good horn to learn to advance on and experience things on. its my 2nd horn and i plan on sticking with it all thru college..

it's not about "ribbed vs rod" it's about ribbed vs flanged construction and having double-arm braces on the bell keys; that's the mechanical difference between the 901 and 991. Ribbed construction make the body more rigid and durable by adding strips of metal that are soldered to the body between key posts. Double-arms assist the lower keys from losing alignment. i'm under the impression that the neck and bore of the 901 and 991 are identical in design, so the tone ought not to be much different beyond normal variance you'll find from horn-to-horn.