Hi, I'm about ready to buy my first serious recorder. I started out with an Aulos 511 and moved up to a second hand Moek Rottenburg Tenor. What I like and don't about each:

Aulos:
-Plasticky sound
-Flimsy plastic C/C# keys
-Overblows/squeaks easily
-Have to suck my spit out of the windway every 10 bars or so
+Reliable performance

Moek:
-Tempermental performance (probably due to being made of wood?)
-Low C and C# sound weak
-High register (anything above D5) sounds creaky
(These might be problems from it being second hand, but I had it revoiced and cleaned and that's how it sounds. I've never played a new one, so I don't know)
+Notes from D4-D5 sound nice

Well, any ideas what recorders I should look at?

Unless you're prepared to both spend a lot (at least several hundred dollars/pounds) and test personally first, a Yamaha YRT-304BII in ABS. Seriously!

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And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

Why I teach... and where
Master of nine?

I tried one before I bought the Aulos and I preferred the Aulos.

Re-voicing should make the Rottenburgh play like a brand new recorder. Works for mine.

I wholeheartedly agree with that. I can't fault the Yamaha for the price. The keys on the Aulos and Yamaha could certainly be better made.

Other than that it would be a matter of trying out high-end instruments, as Peter said. Recorder shops with a good selection of instruments are few and far between, depending on where you live. Enjoy the hunt.

Feadoggie

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I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.

My favorite brand is Mollenhauer.

I have the Yamaha Alto (YRA-311B) and its a fabulous instrument!

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You don't stop playing when you get old, you get old when you stop playing!
My musical endeavours on my blog https://mymusictree.blogspot.co.uk/

I have an Aulos tenor, keyless, and it's a struggle to play. It was bought on a whim but I can't really get to grips with it, and I want to focus on learning on my Alto. So I might look into selling the tenor.

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You don't stop playing when you get old, you get old when you stop playing!
My musical endeavours on my blog https://mymusictree.blogspot.co.uk/

Hi...have you tried breaking in your Moeck before playing long-term or the higher register, or tried de-clogging your windway? I just ask these first because some people don't, and I found that the proper care insures I get longer play on my instruments (also, I don't know how long you've been playing, so I can't make assumptions). With the plastic one, you can get away with quite a bit in terms of playing, but, ultimately, it will have that "plastic" sound. I had purchased a Moeck Rottenburgh bent-neck maple tenor a few months back (I liked the sound better than the other choice, a Flauto Rondo) and I had to break it in a little at a time to get up to a full hour of play. I will admit that the lowest C sounds a bit muffled, less full than the D. I'm not sure what you mean by "creaky", but I've had good luck up to the high G on my instrument; any higher is tricky to get a clean sound, but I'm mostly a soprano and alto player. I've had to stop recently because I had surgery (still recovering), so going back to it, I'll have to start the break in process all over again.

I had to pay around $750 or so for my tenor, new. Truly high-end tenors will hit the thousands, and bent-neck tenors are harder to find, and what I need. I play the range from sopranino up to tenor, and I have plastic backups for all of them, though I will need to get a bent-neck plastic tenor since I can't play the straight one without lots of discomfort.

http://www.moeck.com/en/recorders/pract ... order.html

http://www.lazarsearlymusic.com/Recorde ... r_care.htm (check his page out for a list of different recorders, even if he may not have them in stock)

http://www.dolmetsch.com/completerecordercareguide.pdf

I've not done enough research on tenors, unfortunately, since I knew I could not get more than a mid-range instrument, but here's a site with links various recorder makers: http://www.recorderhomepage.net/instrum ... ry-makers/