I feel your pain, brother, as I have am going through the same process right now. I started with a ddrum beginner kit, and I am ready to move up. My choice came down to Sonor Force 3005 and the Gretsch Catalina maple sets. After taking the time to research things pretty thoroughly online, I went to several music stores and got a feel for the sound of various sets, and woods. I found that my ears fell in love with the sound of the maple sets. I know that not everyone would agree, so I would suggest that, if you can, you check out the sound of different sets at the music stores. You've got a wide spectrum of woods on the drums that you are considering, so I would try to narrow it down based on what sounds good to you. There is a good article in Prof. Sound's Drum Tuning Bible http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/
There is a section in there that talks about how he would go about buying drums. It made real good sense to me, and I followed it fairly closely. The other thing I did is exactly what you are doing. Getting advice from others who have gone there before you.
There are some very nice people in here, and I'm sure you'll get the guidance you need. Hang in there, and good luck making your choice.
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