Well...I kinda *was* asking you.I recently replaced the stock Emperors with Vintage Ambassadors and I really like them. They sound a bit less modern and slightly more vintage with the coated heads. It's a great combo, if you ask me.
Huh. Never heard of the smooth. So many choices.I own two sets of Renowns. I'm using smooth white emperors on my main kit (kind of sounds like the love child of a coated emperor and clear emperor if they had a baby), and coated ambassadors on my jazz kit.
So, tuned high = coated ambassadors
Tuned med to low = smooth white emperors
I was tempted to do the same but I'm not completely in love with the look of the Skyntones. I figured that Vintage Ambassadors would get me at least partway there, sound-wise. I may still try the Skyntones.I replaced my RN2 Renown batters with Remo Skyntones, and I absolutely love the warm tone and soft attack of the calfskin lookalikes.