the Violin Community has embraced them, Sax has Berhaus ...

[flutego12]

at the risk of being stoned, I have a Q nevertheless...

the vanilla subset of the Violin Community have embraced them, Sax enthusiasts have almost legitimised the Antigua & Berhaus-Walstein offerings ... who do we, the Flute community have?

(my apologies in advance for the perhaps political incorrectness of the Q)

[fluteguy18]

What is your question?

[flutego12]

decrypted, it simply seeks to know if there is a pre-legitimized flute producer who is putting out very good quality flutes (mandatory descriptors include durable, reliable) at ridiculously low prices ...

[pied_piper]

Hmm. Not quite sure what you precisely mean by "pre-legitimized", not sure what level flute (student, intermediate, pro) you are referring to, and it's definitely not possible to get a really good flute at a "ridiculously low price", but I'll take a stab at what I think you mean.

Di Zhao is probably the closest brand to your definition. They offer a lot of "bang for the buck" (feature-wise) and they are of reasonably good quality. They are made in China, but finished in the USA. Mr. Di Zhao himself formerly worked for 13 years at Powell making flutes and later became their VP of quality. I have played some of his flutes at NFA conventions and they play well, but I can't speak about their durability since I've never owned one. Their reputation though is pretty good. Perhaps fg18 will chime in since he has some sales and support experience from a vendor who sold Di Zhao flutes.

http://dizhaoflutes.com/

[flutego12]

Hi Bob. Thank you for your msg and good to hear from you again. Ah DiZhao! Our local establishment stock them so, for me, DZ has technically already "arrived" and hence placed above the category I was shooting for.

I was merely keeping an eye out for upcoming producers who may already be in the market for quality offerings at basement prices to preempt the risk of obsolescence of the mainstream. By this I would be referring to the wide entry level amateur (non student) segment of the market which is v price sensitive. First drawn to this manufacturing phenomenon whilst saxophone shopping in early march. Great temptation to look even beyond the Bauhaus Waldstein now to the "i&K" which claims to be a Yani copy (at $450 prob even cheaper in the US) but oh so politically incorrect! What do you think of the Bauhaus or Antigua? And then there is the plastic vibrato which I like the idea of (very light and to me sounded amazing). I suppose the flute counterpart for that would be the Guo which I was seriously eyeballing last year but didnt get. Same Qs of durability, service requirements and the why Q etc etc

....