Posted by Lew on May 26, 2001 at 09:42:08:
In Reply to: Re: Cerveny 601 vs Yamaha 641 posted by Rick Denney on May 25, 2001 at 18:49:18:
I played that same Cerveny 701, it's been sitting at Dillons for a while, and loved the responsiveness and openess. My primary horn is a Cerveny stencil that would be equivalent to a Cerveny 786, if they made such a thing. The 701 is much larger, but I had no problem playing with any dyanamics. I would have seriously considered the 701 had it ben there when I bought mine. I think that it would be a good all around horn, in spite of its size.
I have never played a Yamaha 641 that I have liked. I have found them to be unresponsive and quirky in intonation. If I had to choose between the Yamaha 641 and the Cerveny 601, I would buy the Cerveny for the responsiveness, intonation, and sound.
As others have said, in that price range I would seriously consider a Miraphone S186-4, Meinl-Weston 25, or VMI 3301. You could get the new King 2341, Jupiter 582, VMI 2203, or Cerveny 686 for less money and have a perfectly fine horn. The best suggestion is to go somewhere where you can try out as many different horns as possible side by side before buying anything. For your first tuba purchase you can probably buy a tuba that will work every bit as well as the two you mentioned, for a lot less money.