Michael Rath R4F Tenor Hagmann

This trombone produces a warm, beautiful and balanced sound, with excellent focus and tone. Going low, the sounds is dark and weighty, whilst going high is clear and not-overly brilliant or constricted (as I've found on some other brands) - all registers are easy and responsive. The Hagmann valve gives such a clean and clear flow of air, there is next to no resistance from it. The response across the whole instrument is perfect. The slide was initially heavier than I expected in weight, but upon playing this is very welcome and has precision to the movement far over and above previous experience on a Yamaha Xeno and Conn 88H. The workmanship is outstanding and exceeds what I've seen on other, similarly priced and high-end trombones. Rath are the experts for a reason and it definitely shows, feels and sounds as such with this beautiful trombone.