You will not go wrong with a Seamus O'Kane (the man lives in a place called Drum for goodness sake!) or one by his son Dara. The good thing about O'Kanes is that they are still built in limited numbers and not cranked out with the quality suffering just to meet demand and turn a profit.

Some of the well known makers in this thread now churn out cack that is unplayable and leaves countless beginners giving up and hanging their bodhrán on the wall.

Belgarth also make very playable (but very different to O'Kane) drums. The main difference is that the O'Kanes use a lambeg skin (which some back in the day really didn't like for political reasons)and so are very thin and responsive across an entire range from top end "pops" to bottom end "booms". Metloef also make excellent bodhráns but they are pricey.

In terms of making a cheap bodhran sound better there are lots of tips on the bodojo site.