Best Sounding Laminate Tenor You've Heard?

I have a solid Koa KTM-00 tenor, but I'd like to add a laminate tenor to my collection. However, I'm only interested in sound. I don't care about looks, pricing or brand name.

Given that, what in your experience is the best sounding laminate tenor you've heard? (Yes, I understand this is relative/subjective, just looking for opinions from the community.)

So far I've heard a Kala Ziricote tenor ($250) and a Koalana tenor ($250). Both sound really nice, but are there any others you think are worth considering?

Appreciate it.

I bought an inexpensive Kala laminate to have around the house and take out / in the car without worry. Oh and for the sparkle (it's one of their sparkle ones!) I was really surprised by the sound, much much better than I anticipated. I changed the strings and instantly it went from ok to nicely sounding. I think strings almost make as much impact as the laminate.

I wish I had something helpful for you, but I just have a question. Owning a koa KoAloha and having tried the KoAlana, how would you say they compare? That is, are there any similarities at all? I only ask because similar to your question, I’m curious whether to recommend the KoAlana as having any of that distinct KoAloha sound.

Don't own one my self but my friends Islander sounds pretty good. It's the mahogany tenor laminate.

The Koalana sounds really really good. Almost as good as the KTM-00 solid koa. In fact, I might even say it sounds 1% louder (but not clearly enough to know for sure - could just be perception) than the koa. However, the solid koa (KTM-00) gives that unique koa tone that the Koalana doesn't have. I put the exact same strings on both for comparison (Thomastik-Infeld smooth wound G&C with Uke Logic soft tension E&A). I also have the same strings on my Kala Ziricote. I'm inclined to agree with the poster who said strings can make all the difference. I could be easily swayed towards thinking any uke (cheap $50 - $1K+) can sound & play great with proper strings and adjusting the action.

The tuners feel a lilttle cheaper on the Koalana. But other than that, it's great and plays very easily (just like a KTM-00).

Takamine made a really nice sounding mahogany laminate tenor. I have one, now on loan to a friend.

A friend of mine has a laminate Martin tenor. I don't remember the model designation. It sounded very good. But I think Martin stopped making them.

Check out Ono ukuleles. David Ingalls is making high end custom ukuleles using 3-ply laminates for the sides and a lighter one for the back. He makes the laminates himself using quality tone woods. The tops are solid woods. His video explains why using laminates for the B&S for added stiffness, produces a better sound. (He will still make all-solid wood instruments upon request.)

He has several videos on his blog on his website:

http://onoukes.com/blog/2020/1/5/laminated-backs-and-sides

I have a Kala KA-T, it is surprisingly good, especially at its price, so I keep it around for those times I want a fuller sound, it is fitted with Living Water low G strings though, so that could be why it sounds so good, I didn't like its tone with the original strings.