Fortunately, I overcame my prejudice against Geyer-style horns, and I have tried many different types of horns over the past few years.
I was comfortable playing a Kruspe-style horn, and the one experience that I had with a Geyer-style horn wasn’t very memorable (that 667), so I stuck with the Kruspe. I played that E-series horn throughout my masters degree and most of my doctoral studies. When I decided to pursue graduate degrees on horn, my teacher recommended a Conn 8D, specifically an Elkhart model, which is what I found. Maybe it was my naivety, but it was probably because I just wasn’t a very good player at the time.
It’s funny now, because I have come to really enjoy playing Yamahas, but I hated them back then. These horns were serviceable, but I really didn’t like them, especially the Yamahas. It served me well until I was in undergrad, and then I used a few different school horns: Holton 179, Yamaha 667, and 668. It was old, probably from the early Abilene era, definitely not an Elkhart, but it played fine. Someone recommended a Conn 6D, and it just so happened that I found one for sale, so I bought it. I couldn’t afford a brand new instrument, or a nice used instrument either. However, I quickly fell in love with the instrument and decided to buy my own. Remember, horn was not my first instrument, so I didn’t start playing until high school. My first horn was a Yamaha (double), but I’m not sure of the model. When I was a young student, I didn’t have a lot of guidance in terms of proper instrument selection.