Maybe I'm just nuts but I have played the following horns as full-time axes: Bach Strad 37, Yamaha Mike Vax, Olds Mendez, Olds Recording, Kanstul WB1600. Of those, the
only one I tried before I bought it was the Yamaha, and I ended up getting rid of it because I eventually decided I didn't like it. None of the three horns I use regularly now I tried first (the Kanstul 1600 is my main horn, I switch sometimes to the Olds Recording I bought on Charley Davis' recommendation, or a Benge 3x from the LA period that I bought off Ebay and totally lucked out on as it was in great shape and didn't have any of the issues I had heard about with Benges having flat 5th partials).
