I am a college student buying my first horn and I was told that Conn 8Ds are very good, but recently a friend offered to sell me their Holton 179. This horn was bought new by them and is in very good condition. I was wondering what differences there are between these two horns and if a Conn is appreciably better. I have played both and they seem very similar.

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Ok, ok so I have done a bunch of reading since I last posted this and in general it seems like the Conn's have a bigger sound but it is harder to hit the notes right on. The Holton's in general are made to make them easier to play but tend to have valve problems. It seems like everyone is saying that you should choose the horn that feels the best for you. Well for me I can't really tell the difference (obviously I am not very expirienced), but it doesn't look like I can go wrong with the Holton. Thanks for the help! This forum is awesome!

I've never had a problem w/ the valves on either of my Holtons. I believe the reason this rumor got started is because Holtons are the number one horn bought for school bands. Because school horns are notoriously poorly cared for, there are a whole lot of Holtons floating around w/ poorly maintained valves. Holtons are supposed to be cleaned out w/ soapy warm water once a month. When they aren't cleaned regularly, they will gum up, but they are easy to get slick & quick again w/ a good cleaning.

The major performance difference between a Holton 179 & a Conn 8d is as you referred to above; the upper register on the Holton is simply easier than on a Conn. The other thing I like about Holton Farkas, Holton Merkers, Holton 105, etc. is that their wrap is very user friendly. It's easy & quick to drain the water from a Holton Farkas/Merker horn. If you have the instuctions that come w/ the horn, it shows you how to do this. I play w/ people that play horns w/ the Conn type wrap and the Geyer wrap & seen them work & work to get the gurgle out. I usually get it out on the first try! I once found instructions somewhere on the internet on how to drain the Holton horn, but coudln't tell you where it is now.

Valerie in Tacoma, Balanced Embouchure dealer for French horn