I'm new to the site, so please forgive me if this seems repetative.

I am looking for a step-up flute from my Gemeinhardt student flute in the current price range of about $1,000 to $1,500. I've been playing this flute for about 7 years, and I feel I have grown past the limits of it. I am considering either the Silhouette series black nickel flute by Sonare or the Pearl Quants 665 series.

My questions are:

Has anyone played both and your opinion of each?
Are there any guidelines to selecting a step-up flute?

Again, I apologize if this is repetative.

Thanks!

My friend plays on a Pearl PF-665 RBE, but my Azumi AZ-2000 RBE is better, but cost a bit more.

I like the Yamaha 500 series because it's built like a tank and you can find one used for a reasonable price. It's kind of a good "yardstick" to serve as a base line, IMO. But of course, some flutes, even within the same make and model play vastly differently, so you should try a dozen or so before you make a decision.

That said, pay special attention to the high end and the very bottom end - a flute that does both quickly and without as much effort is usually the better choice. Case in point - my original Gemeinhardt was so hard to play the lowest few notes that it was almost unpleasant. My Yamaha 500(now 600 series) was a huge step up and took half the effort to play almost any note.

But it's just one of many choices. Pearl makes good flutes in this price range, as do several others.

Thanks for the feedback and advice! I asked my band director what I should be looking for since I posted this, which has helped me select about 5 different brands to try. I'll be going this weekend to try them out.

Thank you very much!

Again, since the cuts of the headjoints are no different than, say, a guitar and how it's constructed, once you find a flute that you like, test out all of the ones they have in stock to find the best headjoint between all of them (say, at least 3 or 4 of that model).

When I was selecting my son's Yamaha 200, for instance, one headjoint out of the three that they had in stock sounded as beautiful as a typical hand-cut one - much better than the other two. Same brand, same model. Guess which one I bought

Did you end up trying out the Sonare Silhouette Series Black Nickel Flute??

I was also actually insterested in exactly the same 2 flutes (the other being the Pearl Quantz 665).

The Black Nickel is so tempting but I'm just afraid it might be too bright compared to the Pearl.
This is meant to be the difference between nickel and silver plating.

Please let us know what your conclusions were.

Sorry for the late reply! Summer got away from me.

I went back and played all the different brands, and whittled it down to Yamaha and Pearl.

The Silhouette definately had a brightness to it, which I didn't like so much. It's pretty looking, but the sound wasn't what I was looking for.

I went back a few weeks later and tried out a Yamaha against a Pearl. Unfortunately, the stock was slim because I happened by on the store's woodwind showcase weekend... I tried a Yamaha 381, and it was unfriendly. The Pearl had a sweet tone, and I really liked it. I asked the guy who was helping me for another of both, but he could only find another Yamaha. I liked the second Yamaha better; it was more friendly and the tonality was good. So, I bought that one. However, it was the 481, not a 381. I really liked it, but I had to return it. We worked out a deal, so now I own a fantastic flute I feel has a lot of growing room.

I'm sorry if I seem distracted, because I was LOL.

If anyone has questions, feel free to ask!

P.S. It really is true you have to try the flute before you get it. And several of one brand. Every flute is different to every person.