Actually, I have had several Bufet S1s, and the problem seems to be that people are incapable of setting them up properly. Get rid of micro-leaks, adjust the springing suitably, the adjuster screws and the adjuster barrels, and it they play exceptionally. Neither warm nor bright, they are the most neutral, natural, wide-open-window sounding of saxes I have tried. Intonation and scale is spot on, and the mechanism, whilst differently organised than Selmers etc., works well once properly adjusted. And it stays in adjustment nicely. The keywork is fine, the thumb-rest too small and requires quite thick corking in the 'hook'. They do not choke up with a proper set up, nothing could be further from the reality. Actually they are capable of taking a huge amount of air and respond correspondinly. They can deliver as much power as you wish, with tonal characteristics adapted to the mouthpiece used. Unsurprisingly they do not play well if set up is sloppily done. Why are many people incapable of doing this? 'Course It takes time, but no more than any other instrument, it just takes a while to work out the mechanical interdependencies. I am convinced that a few negative reviews are the result of badly set up instruments, because a proper-playing S1 is undeniably a great, great sax.

hmmmm. "selmer for ever"...... guess that about says it all.

i own a mark vi, so la. i have owned two others, a vii, and an sba, so la re. i prefer the right pinky cluster on my buffet sda to that of my vi. compared to the martin i had for twenty years and just sold, if i pushed the great quantity of air it was capable of taking through my mark vi, the vi would shut down and go home. am i dissing vi's?! i am not. your assesment is real- it's really yours. it is also in dispute. i'll not continue the dueling opinion link game- there is tremendous respect for buffet saxophones out there and the market value of buffet vintage is growing- not, in my very real opinion, because they are the bastard french step sisters of the mark vi, but because they're distinctly great horns. my assesment is that buffet has made at least one exceptional contribution to the evolving saxophone species: my sda. when i play it, i'm not comparing it to clarinets. i'm not comparing it to a selmer, it doesn't play like one. it's sound is unique, it is rare and remarkable. i find the ergonomics quite good. and the tone singularly pure, dark, and complex- it spins; it sings. it does not roar, though with the right player and piece i'm confident that it could say a few things. more than enough. fin -s