I'm with John. Stethoscopes are like sidearms, everyone thinks the one they bought is the best, but in reality many are ill-suited to the task they are put to. Having used most all of them for 30+ years, I will say that a nurse-type scope with long tubing has always worked best for me in the field. Littmann cardio scopes look cool but they're heavy around your neck and their internal springs break just like everyone else's. Also, the one-sided diaphragms where you're supposed to vary the pressure to "tune" them, are meant to work against skin and work poorly through a shirt. When you've examined enough smelly/infested/vomity patients, the thrill of "short tubing for exquisite frequency response" wears off quickly. Scopes with a large bell are a pain to use with obese cuffs for BP, usually you're better off with just a nurse BP diaphragm-only scope which is also fine for listening to lungs.
If you don't know the difference between a paradoxical split vs. a fixed split of S2, or what the clinical implications of an S3 are vs. an S4, then maybe the $250 you were going to spend on a master cardiology scope would be better spent on something more useful in your daily scope of practice.
Edit: This wasn't directed towards anyone in particular, if you have the money and want to buy a super-duper-doctor scope, by all means do so, most of us did too at one time. Just be aware of your own needs and rank those ahead of looking cool.
