What would be the better bars to have; Padauk or Acoustalon? Rosewood is not an option for me at this time.

Marc

I haven't had too much experience with Acoustalon, but I can tell you that Padouk is much softer than Acoustalon. So if you play with harder mallets, you could dent or crack the bars very easily.
If you are looking for a practice instrument, but don't have the moey for a concert instrument, I HIGHLY recommend a "practice marimba" from Doug DeMorrow. I have a 5-octave practice marimba, with ROSEWOOD bars (height adjustable with a crank). You might wnat to check with him, but I think he is pricing them at $2,000, which is a STEAL. He made me one some months back, and I love this thing. The quality of the sound is just as good as any other instrument, except its lower grade rosewood, and it has no resonators. The low end sounds dull, but pretty good considering the circumstances. It has actually helped my technique, because such imperfections such as roll-speed is very exaggerated. Once you get on a regular concert instrument, you will sound like a dream!
Here is a pic: . But its actually even nicer than this, because he has it adjustable with a hand crank, and it has wheels on it too.
~Behzad