I can't say I've ever played a coated diplomat before. Sounds interesting.

I got hooked on Suede Ambassadors 6 months ago. They feel and sound great to me. Clear Ambassador resos.

I have experimented extensively on this subject. I've come to a clear conclusion; each drum has a "sweet spot", both in tuning and head combination.

You can make inexpensive drums sound great, you can make expensive drums sound horrible! Finding it can be an arduous task.

I've built a system. First, the shell configuration, maple ply drums sound better with clear resonant heads and coated batters. It's an open sound with projection. Birch drums sound warm with coated resos and coated batters. This is a general starting point. For example, a maple mounted Tom with a clear resonant and clear batter may sound great, while the matching floor tom sounds good with a coated batter head.

Then there's the tuning. Same pitch both heads is where I start. That gives you a starting point to deviate from to find the spot.

It's an exhaustive subject quite frankly. Bottom line, if you're not happy with the sound of your drums, try a head and or tuning change. You'll be surprised at what you might find out!

thanks guys i appreciate your thoughts