Yeah, I had some snotty (no name composers) inform me once that the D clarinet was preferred because of the dulcet tones. It might have been on this forum. I don’t play in concert anymore - no time, but if I saw it show up in a score I’d laugh in the composers face and tell them they made a rookie mistake.
On Eb, because it’s small you can these days get a quite good one off - of all place - Amazon, for a few hundred dollars. Rosewood to boot. I have one, the front tone holes are plastic lined instead of metal, the silver plating tarnishes too easily, but it’s got a good tone and the tuning is pretty good too. It would do just fine everywhere except a top tier orchestra, so I say call for it as you wish as it’s very affordable.
Unfortunately the bass clarinet. being larger, is not available in a good cheap instrument, but on the other hand those are relatively easy to find or borrow. So basically I’d say these days you’re in good shape to use the clarinet section as you wish. Just don’t call for a D!