From what I've seen as news I must say:
1) The throw off/strainer looks interesting. Surely it's tempting for drummers who need a smooth working gear. It has both style and engineering seriousness. I hope it performs well too. If one judges from the SONOR snare wires, the strainer should be a masterpiece.
2) The red tribal is my personal favorite finish (although I'm beyond colored finishes, might be an age issue, or style of music played). I'm more into white pearl, wood looking, scandi or mate veneers. But, I can't claim that this is not beautiful.
3) But, I don't see the PROLITE concept as new, simply because:
a) it says "vintage maple shells" which I believe is the same as Delites. If You say "vintage" in my book, then reinforcing rings are sure enough present on the shell.
b) shallow sizes were introduced with the beech infinitive line. And I hate shallow floor toms. I'd kill for a remake of the Hilite floor toms.
I must say that the S Classix was a NEW idea. A Designer birch shell priced fair.
I must say the Beech infinitive was a GREAT idea. A beech drum set in both wonderful look and finish.
I must say that the Designer concept was the BEST idea I've ever seen.
I must say I don't find the ProLite concept exciting. When I saw the picture (
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/show ... hp?t=85777) with just the LITE in the badge, I thought SONOR is bringing back SONORLITE (which I find to be a great name, by the way, and I never owned a set from that series). PROLite just doesn't sound that great (Signature, Designer, Hilite). It's in the line of the Delite, S Class(ix), Force names. Doesn't sound THAT great.
The badge is great. It looks and feels right. But I personally expected more from the drum itself, as a new concept.
My personal favorites (apart from the Designer ground breaking concept) still remain:
1) The Benny Greb snare - a top idea in style, size, finish and badge
2) The Steve Smith snare - a top idea in style and badge
3) The Beech Infinitive - a fantastic concept with a great badge and outstanding looks
4) The Accent Series - a great move with the badge, to separate German from Asian manufacture.
These are my thoughts. As a drummer who's interested in design, look and appeal...
I guess, since (if I'm not mistaken) they made great changes in 2011, they're saving themselves for NAMM 2013. We'll see what will happen then.
If there's time and space for You guys, what do You say we start topics where we can discuss visual appeal for a brand (with it's series), once a week.
Does this sound interesting?!? I'm sure most of us (if not all) owned and played several brands.
After all, the point is to see our ideas "on drums", not "on SONOR drums"...