Albert Alphonso's are INCREDIBLE. You can complain about the price, but the drums are flawless. I've got a 14" model and I love it. It has a good dynamic range, and a full sound. It's tunable. (Yes, you want a tunable drum, it's a lot better than wetting down or drying out your skin all the time.) I'd recommend a 14", but a 16" is fine. I wouldn't go any bigger in diameter. You can do anything with a 14' that you can do with a larger drum, and you have easier access to your whole range of tones.
If you don't want to spend a lot right away, Remo makes a synthetic head, 16" model. Being plastic it doesn't go out of tune, so it always sounds decent.(Not great, but good enough to learn on.)


Don't get a painted drum, especially with a beer label. They are acoustically designed to hang on the wall!
Rich