Yamaha Allegro

Peanut · Post by **Peanut** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:14 pm

My daughter is starting high school this fall and we are looking to upgrade her flute. We have been around to the various music shops in town and had her play a variety of instruments. She has narrowed it down to a Yamaha 481 and a Yamaha 471 Allegro, with a strong preference towards the Allegro. The Allegro is about $250 more than the 481. I'm wondering what the difference is between the Allegro models and the regular models. I have to admit she sounded better on the Allegro. Does anyone have the scoop on the Allegro line?

etgohomeok · Post by **etgohomeok** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:24 pm

If she sounded better on the Allegro then get the Allegro.

Phineas · Post by **Phineas** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:49 pm

For that kind of money, I would go for a 500 series Yamaha.

Otherwise, I agree with PP, let your ears do the walkin!

Phineas

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:20 pm

Phineas wrote:For that kind of money, I would go for a 500 series Yamaha.

Otherwise, I agree with PP, let your ears do the walkin!

Phineas

I couldn't agree more. Even though the price is slightly higher, the flute is MUCH better. Yamaha flutes don't really change in quality that much between models until you get to the 500 series. Once you are there, the difference is impressive.

vampav8trix · Post by **vampav8trix** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:24 pm

I was in a music store last week that had an allegro. It was very easy to play and had nice intonation. It also had a split E. I hadn't played a flute with a split E until that moment.

I loved it.

If she sounds better on the Allegro then get the Allegro. It might be that the flute has a split E and you are paying a little more for the mechenisim.

arabians207 · Post by **arabians207** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:57 pm

I also agree with Phineas on going for the 500 series.

The allegro isn't much different except it has a gold plated lip I think.

I tried an Allegro (the all silver, or the more silver Allegro model) and while it was much better than my flute I had and has always played (it was old.. ).. the other flutes I was playing right with it (Miyazawa 102 and a 202) blew the Allegro away (although thats getting out of your price range) and for me, the Yamaha 574 (or some 500) sounded lots better than even a $5000 Miyazawa 402, all silver professional flute. If that was confusing.. in a nutshell, the Yamaha 500 flute beat all of the other flutes I tried out.. except for the fact it didn't have C# trill and D# roller.

Also, in the 500 series you now get the C# trill which I love! My flute that I did buy has it and I've used it more than I thought I ever would. If Yamaha would have added that feature a few months earlier, they would have sold me a flute.. but I bought a Pearl Dolce CODA (with the C# trill/D# roller) and bought a Yamaha EC headjoint for it, which works great for me.

But if you cannot afford (I don't think its too much more?) in the 500 series, get her the Allegro if she likes it a lot more