Right now my daughter, who is in high school, is playing on a Selmer flute we bought for her years ago at our local music store. It's time to upgrade a bit. We have enough money to buy either a new intermediate flute(I'm thinking about having her try an Azumi 2000) or a used Altus 807. The new flutes we are looking at all have the B foot, open holes, silver headjoints; but the Altus is pretty basic- plateau keys, c foot, silver plated- but we can upgrade to a sterling head joint. Is a basic Altus (or any other basic, Japanese-made brand) as good or better than a new intermediate flute?

Oh, my daughter thinks they all play better than her Selmer.

You should get her private teacher to try the flutes as well.

I have no personal experience with Altus, but I would suggest buying a used low-end professional model flute compared to a new intermediate flute from Armstrong, Gemeinhardt, etc. I bought an Armstrong 80 new for $1,100 and didn't realize until a year later that for a bit more, I could have gotten a pre-professional model in good condition. If you decide to purchase used, make sure you try the flute before buying. Even if the flute is an immaculate solid silver Burkart, some players might not like the sound it produces.