The difference a reed makes!

Well I just posted recently about a fine old Laube clarinet in the key of A that I had finished working on.
I was initially very excited about this clarinet when I got it,  I hardly ever get to work on "A" clarinets and I also tend to adore the old French instruments.   This one was unplayable before I refurbished it but when I finally had a chance to play it.......I have to admit I was a little disappointed.   I noted in the posting I made about the instrument that it has a small bore and it played with some resistance.   I chalked up the resistance to this and called it done,  knowing that the clarinet was as leak free as could be and there wasn't any other reason it didn't play as freely as I'd like it to.
Today I got to thinking about something,  the reed.   Now I just bought a new box of clarinet reeds recently,  some Gonzalez' in 2.5.   I've used Gonzalez in the past and liked them, I can't remember what strength I used previously but up until now I was just using up some old Rico reeds that were quite soft.  I wondered,  was the reed the issue?  I had tried different mouthpieces but not different reeds.   A light bulb went off,  I tried one of the old/almost worn out Ricos that were soft at the tip....and WOWZER!!  The clarinet sings like a dream!   It turns out these Gonzalez reeds, although marked 2.5,  play a lot stiffer than I would expect a 2.5 to play.  Oh well,  live and learn.  I'm just happy this clarinet plays as well as I knew it could!