Snare Drum of the Day: Sonor HiLite Snare Drum – Piano Black – 14"x7" – Hella Die-Cast Hoops
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:32 am
Snare drum of the day: $800 NET (after fees and shipping) buying direct. CONUS preferred; but you pay, I ship!
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Snare drum of the day: $800 NET (after fees and shipping) buying direct. CONUS preferred; but you pay, I ship!
That looks in great condition Jules.
I still maintain my 7" Hilite is one of the best maple snares I've ever heard. My own maple drums are either matching snares for kits, or fall into Hilites with Hellas (on the three 14" drums, triple flanged on the 12") or steam bent maple (Noble & Cooley and Craviotto) with triple flanged hoops. There is a case for both sounds, the bolder more in your face sound of a drum with die cast hoops, versus the more mellow and rounder sound of a drum with triple flanged hoops. When you want the more robust sound, nothing I've tried or heard anywhere comes close to the 7" Hilite. The difference between it and every DW and Tama maple snare with die cast hoops for instance, is laughable.
A friend in Australia has a Sonor Cottonwood with Hellas which he raves about, I'd love to try it side by side with the Hilite.
when I had my Sonor dealership, I sold a Cottonwood to the wife of a local guy that was getting it for his birthday. He loved it then, and still does. He turns over gear but that one has stayed in the mix for a long time. I don't think he ever tried it with Hells, but that would be an interesting experiment.