Veteran Newbie needs advice on new hookah

[cypress]

My recomedations for a durable hookah is an acrylic Mya Saray or
Taqseem Stargate.  Taqseem sells his on ebay and there are a few
websites that offer the Mya Saray on or you can buy it direct from
their website. 

[mpjohnst]

[quote name='cypress']My recomedations for a durable hookah is an acrylic Mya Saray or
Taqseem Stargate.[/quote]
Are these stainless steel?  The reason I ask is the Sultan hookahs
I have say they are stainless steel but they are not fully
stainless.  The shaft that goes into the water looks stainless on
the outside, but if you shine a light inside or look at the threads
where it screws apart from the stem, there is visible rusting...

I found the Stargate on Taqseem's eBay site but I think that it might
be a tad mod for me!  The Mya Saray's look really classy. 
Thanks for the input!
-Matt

[cypress]

If i am correct they are advertised as stainless. I have heard good reviews by people on this forum. 

[mpjohnst]

Thanks again cypress.

Has anyone with a Sultan experienced rusting as I have?  Like I
said above, it is most noticeable inside the shaft and on the threads
where it screws together...  I can post pics if needed.

Based on comments posted in the Mya Saray thread... This may be a
winner for me. Although, I mainly see comments on the acrylic.  Is
the acrylic more like glass or plastic?  In my head, I'm thinking
of a clear resin type material that is maybe 1/3 the weight of
glass...?  Are the acrylic bases noticeably lighter than glass
bases?

Also, if anyone else has recommendations, I would love to hear
them.  Does anyone have the Syrian models from Hooka-Shisha that
could comment?  They look pretty nice and I like the way the
hose/valve works with 2 or more hoses. 

Thanks again for your help.
-Matt

[cypress]

Acrylic is more similar to a type a plastic. The thing with Mya is that
if something breaks most likely they will replace it no questions
asked. Granted you didnt drope it from the second floor on concrete or
run over it with the car. 

[Guest www.genuinehookahs.com]

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[mpjohnst]

Seals question...

I read on some another post that someone doesn't want to deal with
seals anymore and is interested in a screw-in acrylic base.  In my
experience, I've never had trouble with the seals on the base, but more
in the hose and bowl.  Now I have a Sultan hookah, and even though
the quality of everything else is only so-so, the seal between the base
and the stem is great.  It's kind of shaped like the following:

========
-|   |-
-|   |-
-|   |-

Where the "-" are little rubber rings that stick out from the main seal
to ensure an airtight fit without having to cram it in.  Is this
seal unique to the Sultan's or can it be used on other models.

Also, I seem to remember on the Egyptian hookah's I used (with the
curved metal hose adapters), having trouble with seals there... mainly
the metal cutting through the rubber over time.  Do most of the
newer hookahs solve this problem or is it just a fact of life? 
How about the Syrians?  The mods seem to do OK as they are not
"hand crafted".

Can anyone comment on the Mya seals?

Thanks again.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a Mya but I
just want to be thorough as I hope to keep what ever I buy for a long
time.
-Matt