I'm considering buying several of the Ensemble Series Mallets from Vic Firth
http://www.vicfirth.com/products/ensemblekeyboard.html
But before I shell out the money, I want to know what people think of them. I have heard both positive and negative reviews and if you are familiar with these mallets, I'd like to know your take on them.

Also, it seems that the outer layer of latex might be removable. Is this true or not? (I would prefer that the latex be permanently attached)

I've seen a pair of those, i didn't play with them, but i did try the take the latex off, it wouldn't budge

Back in the day when I used VF stuff, I owned several pairs of the Ensemble Series. They were a good mallet that was cost effective. The sound was a little thinner than a yarn wrapped mallet, but that is to be expected. In a full ensemble setting though, the mallets sounded outstanding. Very full and rich sound across all ranges of the keyboards.

I love the ensemble series. Very quick response with minimal attack sound on the keys. I don't tend to use them with any rolled passages. I especially like them when the line spans the board.

Gabe

The M-155's especially cut through well, but not overly brittle.

A few schools that I work with don't have more than one marimba, so we've been using these to warm up the sound of the xylo. Works out pretty good.

From real experience, these mallets work well on boards that suffer from less than desirable natural muting (think Premier's wood bars).

Because there's no cord to absorb any more resonance than necessary, but the mallets aren't glass either, you get a warm and projected sound.

Any roll passages will require slightly higher speeds to get the best balanced sound, but not so much that it will ruin a piece.

I forget which models they are, but Encore makes a similar mallet with a blue rubber head that has similar and more cost effective results.

Maybe it's because I've only used them for the past 4 years and have heard nothing but good things...I guess that's not "REAL EXPERIENCE".

Check out Goshen HS on the WGI 2006 Vic Firth video #1. The marimbas are using the M155's and LOVING IT.

BTW - Boston Cru '08 quad vet Damon Kelly in the Vibe section!

The "real experience" line was not a shot at anyone, just support for my claim of the product's quality.