Posted by answer on September 03, 2002 at 22:33:36:
In Reply to: 2900 or 2950? posted by Euph playa on September 03, 2002 at 21:42:27:
The 2900 is possibly the most widely-accepted standard as "the" euphonium...as it has been heavily promoted by Brian Bowman et al.
Many of the other makes offer many more intonation problems.
The 2950 is a dud. I gauge this by my personal experience, and reinforce my opinion by having watched a recent online auction: A silver plated 2950 was offered - brand new - by a seller with PERFECT EXTENSIVE FEEDBACK. The opening bid was $3500 NO RESERVE. (This is many hundreds of dollars below U.S. wholesale.) There were no bids.
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Now, here's my question (which has little to do with this thread): Why are all "professional" euphoniums euphonia...whatever...) cluttered by the 4 compensating valve system? Yes, Willson (for instance) makes a non-compensating, but it isn't quite made of the same acoustical parts.
I couldn't imagine how frustrating it would be if all of the finest tubas were only available with four compensating pistons.