It's because no real answer or consensus is ever reached to the originator's question.
Ultimately, it all comes down to a matter of taste.
No one would dare come up with a list of low-end makers, would they?
And kudo to Julia Delaney (aka David) for noting that Patrick Olwell does not sell his flutes for that high a price (with the one exception being his annual-- and very special -- birthday flute that he presents on eBay to the highest bidder....which has reached as much as $11,000, btw).
It would be interesting to see how many have sold their Olwell for what they paid for it. I'd venture very few.
The highest I've yet seen paid for a modern-made Irish flute? ~$15,000 on the secondary market ....for an Olwell with 14k gold keys. (Pat says he's made 2 of them).
And you can get a run-of-the-mill Rudall (yes, they exist) for about $3k (in beautiful playing shape)....
or the nicer figured wood variety (almost reddish of grain) for much more.....
and the boxwood ones in great shape? One recently garnered about $6-7,000 and apparently plays stupendously.
It's all in what you can afford, what you like and what you're willing to pay.
But you won't actually know until you've played them all, will you?
Hence, FAD.
I, as well, expected the clouds to part and to magically "have it". Not the case. I sound the same as well. My wife gets a kick out of my confusion. I love the sound of my Copley and it true what someone said, it is optimized for that hard sound and it really does have it and with good volume as well. . I know that I need to work in the Gallagher embouchure and try to get the best out of it, but for now, my best is coming from the Copley. I may just be looking for a wooden Copley now but I really do enjoy the Gallagher and I'm sure that if I had five years with it first, then my mind would possibly be different. Sorry about such a long post just to get to the point. At least I got the wooden flute "itch" scratched!
