I second the recommendation for a sauteuse evasee over a traditional, straight-sided sauce pan. It's much more versatile, has a smaller footprint on the stove and works for sauteeing and sauces (and pretty much everything else). Unless you require clad because of induction or ease of maintenance, I'd recommend getting something in 3mm thick, tin-lined copper from eBay. While anything from the Demeyere Atlantis line is excellent as far as clad cookware goes, the performance of thick copper is unmatched.