Noob confession

Today I came to a realization.
I've been using straights for going on 6 months and I have a decent little collection of shave ready razors. I have several newer straights: A Dovo Astrale, TI "Le Legend" and an NTS Stainless. Plus several vintage blades, and a Gold Dollar I bought for 15 bucks off Amazon.
My epiphany -- I get the closest, most comfortable and overall most enjoyable shave from the cheapo GD 208.
I suspect it is the size and weight of it that makes the difference.
Think, I need to find a high quality 6-7/8", hollow ground, round point of similar weight. It just might be my razor Valhalla.
Any suggestions to add to my shopping list, or did I just get really lucky on my amazon purchase?

Sounds like you got lucky with the GD. The Dovo and TI possibly need a re-hone, or at least a touch up. Did they arrive shave ready? If not, I would send them out for pro-honing, it would give you a guide line as to how good the GD actually is. As for the vintage razors you have, maybe post some pics. It may be that your stropping technique has improved in between receiving each razor, it is quite easy to roll or dull an edge while learning. Hope this helps. Best of luck.

I agree the 6/8 - 8/8 are my preferred range and the 13/16-7/8 seem to hit the sweet spot

Grazor, All of the new blades came from reputable dealers in shave ready condition. I bought the GD right after my first razor (the Dovo) the others followed. A couple of my vintage blades are pictured in this post:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...ions-info.html
I have a few others too. I got the bug bad ;). I also travel for work and have lots of opportunities to visit Antique shops in different Cities. I bought some stones and have honed all of the vintage razors. I get good shaves with all of them, although I'm far from an expert. I've also honed the GD after dinging the blade on the Fawcett.
I think it is the size and weight of the blade. I've yet to see any others that are as heavy. That is one of the reasons I bought the TI, it is a bigger blade too and it is close.

Look for a Wade and Butcher. It's a good blade and definitely has some weight to it. Unfortunately they seem to be a hot item at the moment are a little bit pricey.

My cheapest razor always gave me the best shaves when I started. For me, I believe the reason was because it was the blade I learned to hone on. I wasn't afraid of hurting it so I "played" with it often.

I still use it as the blade to test any new rocks on... but it's far from being my smoothest blade. Still one of my favorites though :).