Just curious... What are your favorite mallets to use? And why? I'm not going to put a poll on this because Their are a ridiculous amount of mallets that are manufactured.
And try to keep it towards marching percussion sorts of mallets.
My personal favorite is the m208s, because of their clarity and ease of use, as well as their red color .

Hmmmm, I've never played in a front ensemble before, but I know that I don't like the 1003x and the 1007/8
http://www.innovativepercussion.com/pages/products/product_group.asp?group_id=19

The 1003x are waaay too heavy and the xylo mallets are absolutely massive.


And that everything I know about front ensemble mallets.

As far as concert (I know, I know, it's not a concert mallet topic,) I use the plain old IP Soloist series most often. http://www.innovativepercussion.com/pages/products/product_group.asp?group_id=11

Vic Firth's Van Cise mallets are nice too, but the "soft" ones really aren't too great.

Vicfirth Multiapplication Mallets:
M181
M183

thats what I'm using right now, and so far there have been no complaints

I have always used the Vicfirth Multiapplication mallets, I prefer the 182 of 183 the best cause they blend well with the ensemble and don't cut through as much.

For mallets to cut through I like to go with the VicFirth 171s, they are great for fast runs and or solos

I know you said "marching style mallets," but I really don't like most of what is on the market for front ensemble... many are simply too big and bulky to foster healthy technique.

The Ancona series from Innovative, as well as some of the Casella mallets from Innovative are capable of being used as versatile, all-purpose mallets, but some of the outdoor mallets are more suitable as golf drivers than as marimba and vibraphone mallets.

My current bag includes:

Malletech - The entire NR series - Very versatile, for multiple pitched and unpitched percussion instruments.

Malletech - ES12 - Eric Sammut really designed a fantastic mallet. It speaks almost all the way up and down a 5-octave keyboard. I'm not sure why you would even need the ES16 (his harder model). I've used these mallets for a lot of the solo repertoire I perform.

Pro-Mark - BT2, BT4, BT5 - Blake Tyson's mallets. I have sets in a couple of different hardnesses. They work very well as graduated sets, but I've also used them all separately for many things. They're nothing incredible, but they get a good sound, have a decent feel, and the balance and playability is excellent with all of the sets I use.

Malletech - DF16 - David Friedman's vibe mallets. Great jazz sound, crisp and articulate with a rich fundamental. Nothing much more to say. What else do you need?

Innovative Percussion - Maroon vibe mallets - Can't remember the model number off the top of my head. Good general, softer vibe mallet. Versatile, particularly good for "legit" concert playing.

There's also a few different xylo mallets, bell mallets, concert and drumset sticks, brushes, rutes, etc. but I'll save those for another time.

I like the IP 1003 marimba mallets

IP is the way to go. Malletech has some great concert mallets as well.

As far as malletes go, I really like the IP1003X's. The Tom Rarick Series is also very good, as well as the Acona Series.

As far as chopping out goes, the Tom Rarick Series and IP1003X's have heavy weighted cores, they're great. And if you seriously wanna build some chops, I suggest the IP701's. Just check em out for your self, I need to buy 2 pairs.

http://www.innovativepercussion.com/pages/products/product_group.asp?group_id=16

Vicfirth American Custom M3 Mallets
They're wonderful, although a couple strings HAVE started to come loose and I've only had them two months..

Also, the Ed Saindon M38 Mallets are amazing too, but they work best on the low register.

The h.s. I was at used a couple out of the V.F. multi-application series (the blacks) and they had just started using the Pesante series which I absolutely loved sound-wise. The high school also did use the Giff Howarth series at certain times although I wasn't a huge fan of those compared to the other choices. I've really liked the Virtuoso series at this juncture in my life as well although I don't know how well those work in a multi-player setup.

Well, it truly depends on the piece of music I am playing, but for a front ensemble scenario:
Marimba: IP 1003 / 1002
Vibes: IP 1006 / 1005
but for a solo marimba scenario, the Encore Nancy Zeltsman series is excellent.

For marching season, I prefer Innovatives. My absolute favorite marching mallets have to be the 1002 Jim Casellas. I love that they have a soft but clear sound. I feel like the 1003's are WAY to harsh and loud. And the 1001's are a PAIN to play with since they are so heavy. And they don't sound very clear.

For concert season, I prefer Malletech. Although I haven't used many of malletech's mallets (Due to their OUTRAGEOUS prices) I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Eric Sammut series! They have clarity while not being too harsh and sounds amazing at ALL volumes!