The Yellow Board

Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Freedom Horn on 7/13/2022, 1:28 pm

I know the Conn 8D and Holton Farkas have been "the standard" for many years but how does Yamaha or other brands stack up?

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Okay... on 7/13/2022, 10:40 pm, in reply to "Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

Unless you can verify that it was built before 1985...pass on the 8D. The 10D is a nice horn, but it isn't cheap.

I've found the Holtons to be heavy and stuffy on the whole, but if you really, really search you can find some that blow freely. FYI Holton-Farkas is the name of the mouthpiece.

I put my money on Yamaha. Disclosure here, I've been playing on a Yamaha 667 for the past 32 years. I prefer the 667 (Guyer wrap), but the 668 (Krupsie wrap) is good as well. I also recommend the 567 too. The 567 is the step-down from the 667.

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Sandlapper on 7/14/2022, 5:09 pm, in reply to "Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

The midline Yamaha Geyer is now a YHR671. At my last school, we had them for our 6A varsity ensemble. We had kids make all state on them. Solid instruments. Bid price should be in the low $4k range. Superior instrument in all facets to the Conn 8D and Holton 179.

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Anon on 7/13/2022, 5:36 pm, in reply to "Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

Yamaha 668 is the go to in my mind at this point.

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Me on 7/13/2022, 5:33 pm, in reply to "Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

I wouldn't buy a Conn 8D with your money at this point. Price has gone through the roof (and I haven't even checked since a couple years back) and quality has gone down.

Holton makes a quality product - but Yamaha is top notch.

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by CS on 7/16/2022, 7:18 am, in reply to "Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

Holton is a brand of Conn-Selmer, as is Conn. Same manufacturer.

Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?

Posted by Holton Fan on 7/16/2022, 3:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Conn 8D vs. Holton Farkas vs. ?"

I've favored the Holton 179s for years until I made a Conn-Selmer program purchase. The horns had to be flushed due to heavy packing grease that should have been replaced before shipping. Other than that, the Holton horns have been very dependable and always met my expectations.

« Back to index

[ The Yellow Board ]