Which 5/4 CC Tuba would you recommend?

[toobagrowl]

THOR
Very bright sound, easy to get edgy and lose refinement.

The Thor is a very good instrument as are the others. Despite this, the tendency is for players to abuse the instrument and over blow, play like Jason Voorhees in the low register, rattle the walls down, and it offers a sound without many overtones that tire the ears eventually. This is not to say that a capable and honorable gentleman is to be incapacitated to perform with taste and refinement.

Huh? You need to listen to and judge tubas "out front"; not so much in some elephant room or up close, because what really matters is how it sounds to the audience.
Bloke posted some great clips of his Thor. I hear a dark, centered, rich sound. Sound-wise, like a mix of Alex and Yorkbrunner. Very nice.

[Leto Cruise]

same 5450 / same player / different mouthpiece / different style...

...so why doesn't it sound the same as on the church orchestra recordings...??

bloke "My ears are tired. I'm going to bed."

The video that Doc posted is a Nirschl 6/4 and not a Thor. It is not the same horn or player. Understandable why the confusion occurred as the design is similar.

[Mitch]

THOR
Very bright sound, easy to get edgy and lose refinement.

I disagree completely. The performance of any vehicle is greatly affected by the driver, I suppose. But I find this statement to be completely contrary to my experience with my Thor. Then again, my Thor is thertainly thuperior.

The Thor is a very good instrument as are the others. Despite this, the tendency is for players to abuse the instrument and over blow, play like Jason Voorhees in the low register, rattle the walls down, and it offers a sound without many overtones that tire the ears eventually. This is not to say that a capable and honorable gentleman is to be incapacitated to perform with taste and refinement.

I also disagree with the statement that it offers a sound without overtones. In fact, I think it's quite superior in this regard, allowing for an ability to blend with other instruments in a manner exceeding a number of other 5/4 horns I've tried. I think it's actually quite consistent, thereby seeming possibly bland. I remember trying a PT6P years ago that I thought was horrible because every valve combination produced a different formula of overtones. Playing a one-octave scale sounded out of tune to my ear at first, then I realized it was much more the case that each scale degree had a different color to it because it was a different balance of overtones from one note to the next. I don't know which would be preferable to the world-at-large, but I find the consistency of the Thor more suitable to my tastes. I think this trait is also the reason I find the horn responds differently to each mouthpiece. I've only ever had one other horn that exceeded the Thor in its ability to reflect a change in a mouthpiece. 5 mouthpieces=5 Thors.

[Mark]

Wisemann 900.

Is this the PT-6 clone?

[bort]

I've never loved the Thor or PT-6. In my hands (and in brief play-tests), they play huge and dark, but that's about it. I didn't like it, because it seemed like dull and dark, and I didn't think I sounded like myself.

To my surprise, the Tuono was no better. It literally seemed like a Thor with rotary valves instead of pistons, no other difference.

Again, all just first impressions from brief play-tests. Maybe I could grow into any of those 3 tubas. But the initial feedback I got was enough to make me politely set the tuba down and move on.

[MacedoniaTuba]

I'm playing on Tuono and last summer I had opportunity to compare it,side by side with the Gronitz PCK. My Tuono is yellow/gold and the PCK was silver. The most precisely I can compare is by the way the room responded to the soun(i was playing them in to the Horn Guys). With playing the Tuono i got a sound that was spreading on the walls and the other subjects in the room. It was more precise and defined kind of sound. The PCK though had more dark kind of sound I couldn't feel the sound on the walls,but the floor was shaking. I c0ould feel the sound down in my legs. It had not that much defined kind of sound. That's all I can help.
P.S. I also tried Miraphone 1291 and the one I tried had good intonation,but veeery small sound,not resonant at all.

[Leto Cruise]

I'm playing on Tuono and last summer I had opportunity to compare it,side by side with the Gronitz PCK. My Tuono is yellow/gold and the PCK was silver. The most precisely I can compare is by the way the room responded to the soun(i was playing them in to the Horn Guys). With playing the Tuono i got a sound that was spreading on the walls and the other subjects in the room. It was more precise and defined kind of sound. The PCK though had more dark kind of sound I couldn't feel the sound on the walls,but the floor was shaking. I c0ould feel the sound down in my legs. It had not that much defined kind of sound. That's all I can help.
P.S. I also tried Miraphone 1291 and the one I tried had good intonation,but veeery small sound,not resonant at all.

Very nice observations Macedonia. Have you had the chance to play a Thor or PT6 before?

[MacedoniaTuba]

I'm playing on Tuono and last summer I had opportunity to compare it,side by side with the Gronitz PCK. My Tuono is yellow/gold and the PCK was silver. The most precisely I can compare is by the way the room responded to the soun(i was playing them in to the Horn Guys). With playing the Tuono i got a sound that was spreading on the walls and the other subjects in the room. It was more precise and defined kind of sound. The PCK though had more dark kind of sound I couldn't feel the sound on the walls,but the floor was shaking. I c0ould feel the sound down in my legs. It had not that much defined kind of sound. That's all I can help.
P.S. I also tried Miraphone 1291 and the one I tried had good intonation,but veeery small sound,not resonant at all.

Very nice observations Macedonia. Have you had the chance to play a Thor or PT6 before?

Nope,i haven't tried any of those tubas,i have mostly played rotor instruments(even though I LOVE the piston tuba). Hopefully one day I will:))

[bort]

Not worth much... but when I tried a Thor and Tuono back-to-back (for like 5 minutes), I thought they were almost exactly the same, just they type of valves was different. That is, the Tuono played like a piston tuba to me.