...and I didn't get the Altus Azumi as I had planned. When it came to it, the Azumi's mechanism felt great, it was very easy blowing, the assesories where really nice, BUT: I didn't care for the sound. It has a quite thin sound, lacking in depth.

I wound up getting a Pearl Quantz 525RE. I know it has had mixed reviews, but the mechanism felt solid, and the sound was much nicer then any of the others I tried. The case isn't very nice, but I can live with that.

I am wondering if you didn't get a very good headjoint on that Azumi since they pretty much vary. I trid a Headjoint from off of an Azumi and I didn't like it at all, but then I tried another one on the flute itself and it was very nice with a big full sound. I am guessing they might be more hit and miss. Glad to hear you found a flute that you are happy with. Congrats!

Congrats, I'm also a Pearl fan.

me too

Darn, maybe I should have tried a few more different ones, rather than just the couple (2) I tried.
Still, I'm happy with the Pearl I've got and I'm glad there are other Pearl fans out there. I'm curious what my teacher is going to say tonight, she plays a Powell, but she's a great Yamaha 200 series fan.