Posted by John Szkutko on February 19, 2004 at 21:33:23:
In Reply to: Opinions on Besson BE993 tuba posted by James on February 19, 2004 at 15:59:46:
If you search the archives you'll find many questions about this horn, with a number from myself. From what I can remember most of the responses about this horn were positive. The best one I recall was one guy saying the the sound was so great, he actually put up with the poor workmanship that needed to be fixed and kept his horn.
I personally have had a blow on one in New Zealand (I'm an Aussie) and it left my 994 (actually the band's 994) for dead. Great sound and far easier to blow!
As for stuffiness, it's all relative. My 983 is very easy to blow even with many valves down playing near the fundamental. When I played it next to my friends PT15 it did seem a bit stuffy though. Other than that, I wouldn't call it stuff at all.
But beware that there are "dogs" from every manufacturer, regardless if it's a compensating horn or not.