High quality alto flute?

[Wildlion]

I would be interested to know opinions on high quality alto flutes. The names I've heard most consistently are Altus, Haynes and Miyazawa. I'm looking for consistency in all three octaves, which some of the other models lack.

Hope someone has some advice for me.

[woodwindNYC]

I have played dozens of alto flutes, and (until recently, more on that in a sec), without hesitation I would say the best alto flute on the market right now is the Sankyo. From top to bottom and back again, it is the best alto I have ever played. It is responsive, the top notes don't have the grunty, buzzy quality they usually do on an alto, and they're very well-built.

Now, that said...

A few weeks ago, I was at my friend Phil's flute shop here in NYC, and I played an alto flute by the Flutemaker's Guild of London. I nearly offered to trade him a kidney for it. It was, literally, just a big version of a concert flute. It felt EXACTLY the same, the whole way up, and I could even, with little effort, produce a high D. It is solid silver, and has a solid gold lip.

He also has an alto flute by a maker named Ostroff, from Israel, that competes very, very closely with the FMG one.

But, if you're looking for mainstream makers, you simply cannot go wrong with a Sankyo.

I will also add that Altus altos that I have played are a very, very close runner up.

[fluteguy18]

I cant honestly say that I am very savvy when it comes to altos, but I have tried a fair few. The ones mentioned so far are quite decent. Currently, the alto I play [the university's alto] is an Emerson. Not the best, but still quite good. I was really surprised that I could go to the F#4 on it. But, most of those sort of things are the player and not the instrument [although a good headjoint helps a LOT]. The lower register is nice and mellow, there were some tonal differences with the lower and middle register, but I think it is more of the fact that I dont hardly ever play alto.

So, I would give Emerson a look if you are on more of a budget than a free for all price range sort of deal.

[atoriphile]

I would be interested in how the Pearl and Jupiter alto flutes compare to the Sankyo, Altus, Yamaha, etc. that are sooooo much more expensive.

I currently own a cheap Chinese import LALO alto flute, which I find has a good tone (for me, anyways) except for the notes between middle D and F#. With some embouchure changes, I can get them to sound better, but find that using alternate fingerings (e.g., including one of the trill keys) makes it sound a lot better.

So for the more expensive alto flutes by Sankyo, Altus, Yamaha, etc., do the middle D to F# notes sound better?

Thanks!

[flutepicc06]

I would be interested in how the Pearl and Jupiter alto flutes compare to the Sankyo, Altus, Yamaha, etc. that are sooooo much more expensive.

I currently own a cheap Chinese import LALO alto flute, which I find has a good tone (for me, anyways) except for the notes between middle D and F#. With some embouchure changes, I can get them to sound better, but find that using alternate fingerings (e.g., including one of the trill keys) makes it sound a lot better.

So for the more expensive alto flutes by Sankyo, Altus, Yamaha, etc., do the middle D to F# notes sound better?

Thanks!

I own a Jupiter, but if I had the extra money lying around, I would trade it for a Yamaha in an instant. The Jupiter is good, and can get the job done, but the Yamaha is like a big C flute. The intonation and tone are so even throughout the entire range that it's hard to believe that you're playing an alto. The Altus falls right along these same lines. I wasn't as big a fan of the Sankyo, but it too was clearly a very nice instrument, and I expect it would work wonderfully for other players.