hello
i play a conn 6d at my high school and ive been looking for a cheaper horn just to keep around my house for practice. ii recently came over a cheap compensating double french horn and i was wondering what peoples opinions are on them.
thanks!

Compensators have a history of being constantly out of tune. I believe that is more the player than the instrument itself. I do find they dont always have the best tone when playing on the F side. But for something to keep around the house and practice on is a great idea. And since they are a little lighter than a typical double horn you might find yourself practicing more.

I've been told practicing and performing on two different horns is a bad idea. I would advise practicing different material with the compensating horn than what you're playing on your other horn so that you don't learn a bad way to play the music you're going to perform (even though it may sound good on the compensating horn).

That being said, I also think having an extra horn around the house to pick up and practice instead of lugging your other horn to and from school every day is a nice idea. And as JOhn said, hopefully you'll be practicing more!