I am looking around for a flute and my maximum price I would like to spend is around $2,500 (I will pay more if I have to). There are many flutes in that price range like Muramatsu, Miyazawa, Altus, etc. and I wasn`t sure which ones are the best. In your opinion, which ones do you like the best and why?

"For solid silver professional you need to spend around $3500 or you can step down to Yamaha, Jupiter, and Pearl flutes at the $2500 price range."

First of all, IMHO I wouldn`t even consider the Yamaha, Jupiter or Pearl in to be categorized as a professional flute. What you would be getting with them is the fancy pointed key arms (found on most pro models) but with the same old intermediate-student mechanism. Which, in my opinion is a big waste of money. You would be better off with a good solid, fast mechanism on a Altus, Miyazawa, Muramatsu or even the Powell Signature series flute.

If you must have a solid silver flute for under $3500 with a good mechanism and sound, I would say that the Powell Signature flute would be considered the best flute in the $3,500 range. I also think that the Murmatsu EX is fantastic. Which has just a solid silver head.
Just my two cents.

Pico, you are misleading people again with your focus on `features`. Some of the best flute players in the world never had any `features` on their superb flutes. It is the way the flute is designed and made, not the features, that is important.

I agree, the Muramatsu EX, without `features`, is a fantastic flute.

KC, have you tried/serviced the top models of Yamaha. They are not inferior in design/manufacture to the brands you mention.

I have found the precision of manufacture of all Japanese-made Yamaha flutes to be impressive. The mechanical precision of their student saxophones is pretty disappointing though.

"First of all, IMHO I wouldn`t even consider the Yamaha, Jupiter or Pearl in to be categorized as a professional flute. What you would be getting with them is the fancy pointed key arms (found on most pro models) but with the same old intermediate-student mechanism. Which, in my opinion is a big waste of money. You would be better off with a good solid, fast mechanism on a Altus, Miyazawa, Muramatsu or even the Powell Signature series flute."

I think I was mis-understood. I believe I noted that Yamaha, Jupter, Pearl would be a "step down" from the $3500 professional models.

On another note though... how fast can a mechanism be? I`ve been playing on some other flutes lately and while they are noticably responsive versus my old flute they aren`t terribly different from each other mechanically (though feel and sound is another thing). Would you recommend an exercise and a specific tempo that would show off the slowness of a flutes mechanism? I`ve memorized a few fast moving wide range cadenzas to kind of test a flute, but since I have no troubles playing them on my Gemeinhardt... I`m not really finding anything mechanically wrong with anything else. Now I`m finding myself focusing more on the responsivness of the lower octaves to sway my decision.

Silver I`m afraid is making a sway in my decision too. I`m very VERY afraid of making my flute an utter waste of money should the body be dented in some fashion. A lot can happen to a flute in a short time... Orchestra mishaps too often. Just a couple weeks ago a seeing eye dog brushed by flute on its stand and I managed to catch the flute before it fell...

But I`m straying off topic. The poster wants a $2500 flute. If he cannot afford $3500 he cannot afford a professional silver instrument. I was pointing out what his options were at $2500 and if he wanted silver that the mid-tier brands were the only other choice.

"Pico, you are misleading people again with your focus on `features`. Some of the best flute players in the world never had any `features` on their superb flutes. It is the way the flute is designed and made, not the features, that is important."

Altus, Miyazawa, and Muramatsu are all quality flute makers which produce flutes that rival each others and any extras they provide are certainly added bonuses to their inherent quality.

NO, Arak, I have not serviced any top models of Yamaha flutes. I have I can`t remember off hand exactly what model it was.

When I was shoping around for a new flute, I did however try some of Yamaha`s top models. They are very well built. IMHO, I still don`t think that the mechanism is as smooth on them, as some other pro models that I have tried. I just HATE the scale on them.
I also don`t think that the sound is comparable to others such as Haynes, Murmatsu and Powell. I can pick up a 221 and compare it to an 800 series Yamaha, and it is rather hard to hear much of a difference. I just don`t feel that their top models are worth it.
Again.. that is only my opinion.

To answer Pikos question.
INHO, unless you have been playing flute for quite a long time, it is unlikely that you will be able to notice the difference right away between different mechanisms.
I played on a Yamaha 581 for years, and I always asked myself the same question. How could a mechanism on a flute be any faster?
I found out after picking up a Powell and a Muramatsu for the first time after playing on that Yamaha and was blown away!

I think that on any reasonably well made student flute, the keys will return to an open position as fast a the lifting finger will allow them to. Therefore the `speed` of operation is determined by the player, who is the limiting factor.

On the other hand, the `feel` of the mechanism may be more to the player`s liking on a higher quality flute. Personally, I would not like to confuse speed with `feel`.

There are many factors that contribute to a different `feel` of a high quality flute, and they can be identified and listed.

And a player is likely to feel better if he is playing on a flute that feels good. The player who feels good is likely to play better.

Another thing not to confuse with the speed of the mechanism is the transient response - the speed at which a note starts sounding after the player does the right things to make it start. This is an ACOUSTIC property of the instrument, not a mechanical one, unless there are problems with the pads leaking when pads are closed with light finger pressure..

So overall, do you guys think that the Muramatsu EX is the way to go?

Of the significant variety of professional flutes I have serviced and tried, including solid gold ones, the EX & GX Muramatsus stood out for me. They obviously do for Galway as well, or he wouldn`t use one for his practice flute, at least in 2003.

Not all flutes are in a good state of adjustment in a shop. So when players try them, they can easily get put off by any slight mis-adjustment. At least I have been comparing instruments in an excellent functional state.

However, there are significant limitations to my evaluations, which I am honest enough to acknowledge:

1. I have been relatively out of practice for a number of years now.
2. as for other writers here, there are many, many models which I have NOT played, in spite of having played around 130 brands.
3. New models are being produced all the time.
4. Certain flutes obviously suit some players better than others.

I personaly like the Powell Signature series flute a lot better than than any Muramatsu. You owe it to yourself to try on if you haven`t yet. For me, the I just prefer a big full sound.

For me, teh EX had a big, full sound. :-

I am not sure whether or not I have tried a Signature, but I have tried other more expensive Powells. Nothing wrong with them. They just did not excite me as much as the EX, in spite of their relative sophistication.

ive tried the signature powell and i wasnt too impressed with it. the sonare 7000 (powells manufactured brand) out-played the signatue and was only $1995 when i tried it. haynes amadeus 800 is a very nice warm dark flute for about $2500. The Dean Yang was also a veyr nice flute I tried. It cost about $2589 through the manufacturer depending on your discount. Murmatsu EX is a very nice flute. even though its silver plated. My teacher has had her silver plated murmatsu for years and she still has it and it plays wonderfully. and all of those flute i had mentioned besides the EX were solid silver with french arms. I cant even describe how close i was to buying that sonare... it was a very nice flute.

also, i have a recording of me playing Nocturne by Gaubert on a murmatsu if you would like to hear what mine sounds like. i dont know if it will help you any, but its just a thought. email me if you want it. unknownspinart@juno.com

You may get more bang for you buck on the Powell Signature flute, but I wasn`t too impressed with it either. It was so heavy! The sound on them is incredible though. The Miyazawa flutes are nice in that price range. I am not a huge fan of Muramatsu flutes because they seem stuffy to me and only produce one sound whenever I have played on one or have heard one being played. Just my opinion, though.
Since Galway plays on one, I am sure that is a huge factor also to why they might be sought after by younger players.