Yep, rich and full about describes it. Dark, if you aren't on it and are playing below the staff. Get on it, and the horn gets very bright, sweet and pours out the sound! Mine dates to 1964, so it must have the newer style valves, but they are still fast with a solid feel to them.
I played mine for the first time this last week with my community band. Five of the horns are Bachs' or Bach copies. The Connstellation does NOT blend with the Bachs'---it complements them and has a sound very distinct from them. It works well in my band where I'm often playing the harmony or descants and it needs to stand out.
The old 22b Symphonys are a very rich, very dark sounding horn that are still superb horns for playing in orchestras or bands. The Coprion bell horns have a very rich sound as well and play beautifully.
You really should try to find an Old Conn in good shape to play. You just might find that you don't want to put it down!
