It must depend on what models and size of tuba are being compared. My Cerveny Kaiser which is definitely a German style tuba is certainly not brassy, or trombonish - in fact it is a lot more woolly and unfocused than my Mel Culbertson Neptune or big York-style piston tubas I have tried.Rubberlips wrote:American: woofy, woolly, unfocussed?
German: brassy, trombonish?
What certainly seems to be a characteristic of German Kaiser tubas (having also tried the Rudy 5/4 and Fafner) is that they take a lot more air than a York-style BAT.