You will lose a lot of fullness that comes from the bigger box.

Don't get me started! First of all, I have an article in the latest Autoharp Quarterly about being a left handed autoharpist...and put forth the idea that the current "righty" autoharps are actually lefty harps...when played down on a table, which is the traditional way, and probably the better way, when ergonomics and wrist problems are considered. Perfect for a lefty. Tuning is on the left. Chording is on the right, strumming on the left. That being said, if you must hold it up to get it upright, yes you can get a lefty harp from any of the Luthiers. We make them at dAigle Autoharps!

Alessandro Serafini it's probably my playing. They are identical in regards to the mechanism. So I suppose it's more to do with what you mean by "choppy".

Hal Weeks With choppy I mean the sound/noise of the damped strings. With the cascade it seems not present.

Alessandro Serafini make sure you listen on good speakers or headphones when evaluating this way. I've learned that people hear the overtones (and that's what you are referring to if it's dead string sound) differently. Some ears are very sensitive to those "artifacts" in the sound. I personally think that part sounds about the same. But that being said, if it weren't for different overtones, all instruments would sound exactly the same to us... We wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a clarinet and an auto horn, much less two different Autoharps if it weren't for the overtones. I suppose I could say that the overtones on the Desert Rose are a little brighter. The wood instrument will change and so will it's overtones....just like with wine...the subtle nuances will develop; on the Rose, they will stay the same. But on the Rose, if you compare it to an Oscar Schmidt, as I do in the other video, you will see a HUGE increase of overall tone. But like I say, you might hear the overtones more than I do....and they might bother you more. Ideally these things should be recorded side by side thru real good mics. That goes beyond what I can do with the equipment I brought with me to Washington...my phone.....but at least this is an objective comparison....so listen on good earphones or speakers and go with what YOU think. Chromatic harps always have more overtones than diatonic.

Hal Weeks Ok. Thanks so much for the answer!