I just came up in the testing rotation of the Sinfonico, and it is a real treat to test this new horn! In 2019 at ITEC I tried the prototype for this horn and found it very promising. Now we are looking at an early production model. My impression is that that the instrument has changed quite a bit in that time (which is not surprising - that's how the process works). The Sinfonico, unlike the less expensive Dolce, is hand made from sheet brass. Most other brands (and the Wessex "Dolce") ...
Updated 11-23-2021 at 07:01 PM by davewerden
The instrument choices today make this question more complex. Some of this post applies to tuba and other instruments, but I will specifically address euphonium. Until the late 1970's, there was a pretty wide line between pro euphoniums (i.e. Besson and Boosey & Hawkes) and everything else. That line was largely drawn by the compensating system, but also included the larger bore of the British instruments. Today we have large-bore, compensating euphoniums that cost less than some student-level ...