From the above posts. I must comment on my Kearns tunable ....

Tuning screws have large knurled knob ends which are easy to locate in pitch dark and easy to turn. The screws butt an inner frame, so no chance of skin damage. Tension can be easily felt with other hand while tuning by placing hand on edge of drum and feeling the difference between main frame and tuning frame. Screws hold tension well and have never backed off, even in the longest and wildest sessions. The skin of my drum is as even across its surface as one could get, and it's anything but thin.

Yes, it is heavier, but I sit to play, so no matter. The only thing negative is this. When I begin a session during low relative humidity, the screws are backed off almost to no pressure. At this point, they can rattle a bit. This rattle lasts as long as it takes to warm up the skin and get a little hand oil on it - five minutes tops.

I admit I have seen few other drums, but I can't see how one could go wrong with a Kearns, given his committment to quality and a design which virtually eliminates all but the weight problem, which I don't see as a problem.

gnu