What is your opinion on flutes?

Question:I am going flute shopping tomorrow for a professional flute. After many years I am finally breaking down and purchasing a new flute, since my last one is getting too expensive to fix and its starting to turn black and such. My question is... what is your opinion on the sonare versus the yamaha professional models. I am a senior flute major and I have never heard of sonare so any info on that brand would also be great. If you know of any good yet affordable (no more than 2000) please let me know. Thank you in advanced.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am going flute shopping tomorrow for a professional flute. After many years I am finally breaking down and purchasing a new flute, since my last one is getting too expensive to fix and its starting to turn black and such. My question is... what is your opinion on the sonare versus the yamaha professional models. I am a senior flute major and I have never heard of sonare so any info on that brand would also be great. If you know of any good yet affordable (no more than 2000) please let me know. Thank you in advanced.

It's hard to find a good professional flute for $2,000. I love Powell. You can get a Sonare for between 1000 and 1700. The head joints are hand-made by Powell.

I used to be on a flute listserv. You might wish to search for it as you can get good info there. In fact, Jimmy Galway was an occasional contributor as well as a number of other well-known players. I think this was it: http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=...

Good luck,

--Dee

Yamaha makes great electronics but I don't know about their mechanical instruments. Sonare makes very high quality mechanical instruments. They have a wide range of professional quality flutes from around $1,200 to over $15,000.

http://www.sonarewinds.com/products.asp

The flute has a beautiful sound, one of my favorite instruments

Personally, I think that the mechanics of both Yamahas and Sonares are very poor. It $2200 or so isn't too much, then I would reccomend the Pearl Flute 765 Quantz Coda. It is made well and includes a lot of features that most cheap professional flutes don't, such as Split E, Gizmo key, C roller, and EXCELLENT intonation. Check it out on www.wwbw.com for more info.
Also, you should know that sonare flutes are considered intermediate, not professional flutes.