TromboneChat

People who have tried both, which do you prefer and why?

AR. More open in the bass range. AR feels quicker and exact. The Rotaxes had some smush to them.
Some big changes to the internals of the valve. More consistent across horns as well. I owned one of the first batch of B502IY basses when they first came out. Sold it and got one of the first B502IYAR.
I got extensive time to go back and forth with the designs. The AR valves are better in every way FOR ME. YMMV.

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I was going to say, Markey still uses the Rotax... I personally didn't like them much at all on the 502, the AR are much more my style.

el2002 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:30 pm I currently play an on AR B502IY, and the valves feel consistent with the open horn. Interesting how Markey still has the rotaxes while Bousfield has moved on to the ARs.

Bousfield’s horn never had the rotax, and doesn’t currently use the AR rotor. The Getzen rotor/Edwards cr-e is a totally different valve than the AR. It is a great valve though, and to me is nearly just as good as the AR even though costs far less.

I prefer the T-396A with rotax over the T-396AR with AR valve. I tried the AR at ATW and the horn had a dull feeling. A step back from the quality of the T-396A, but that’s just my opinion.

The only horns that have ever had rotax or AR valves are the T396 and B502.
The other thing is that there are quite a few other differences between the older horns with rotaxes vs ARs. The valves were just part of the update.

FWIW the rotax is my least favorite part of my 396. If other people say the new valves are better I’d believe them.

I thought so but I just clarified with Christan Griego: James Markey plays on the new AR valves. I BELIEVE he has some some time.

ZacharyThornton wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 11:09 am I thought so but I just clarified with Christan Griego: James Markey plays on the new AR valves. I BELIEVE he has some some time.

Oh!

Wow that’s a little surprising. I kind of thought Rotax were hard to beat. Now that it’s mentioned, the Getzens played way better for me than the Edwards models at ATW this year. Especially the Enzo. Wonder what the key differences are.

I have a 396A and 502AR, and when I was getting my 502 I had a chance to try the last 502 with Rotax valves. The AR valves are better for me in every way, there are a bunch of ways I have to avoid some of the eccentricities of the Rotax that I don't have to do on the AR.

My 502 has Rotax valves. If anyone has a 502 with AR valves and would rather have Rotax valves, I’ll trade bell sections.