She's a Hoffmann Amadeus, Fiddlestix.

Yes. 

The other options in my price range would have pretty much been Cecilio, so far as I saw.  My Mendini was made by Cecilio.  I definitely wanted to try a different manufacturer. 

@coolpinkone:  Thank you!  I really like this little violin so far. 

@Fiddlestix:  Ok, if you want the short answer, no, I didn't hear a demo of the Amadeus model before I spent money on it.

If you are up for a longer answer with some details, pour yourself a coffee and read on. LOL

No, Fiddlestix, I didn't hear a demo of the Amadeus model.  I had listened very briefly to demos of some of the other beginner level Hoffmanns, but I don't put a lot of faith into professionally done demos. 

I could take a 30$ acoustic guitar from an Amazon warehouse, especially if I got to pick the nicest sounding one out of maybe a dozen or two, tune it by harmonics so any little problems with the intonation or frets would be less noticeable, mess with it for a little bit to find a key it sounds best in..  Then set up a good mic, in a spot in the room where the acoustics can help a little, and I could most likely get a likeable sound out of it.  Especially, if I made a few takes and played to make the best use of the tonal peculiarities of that particular guitar, found the chord voicings it liked and so on, it could sound pretty good. 

But that wouldn't be much of an indicator of what it would sound like right out of the box in the hands of a beginner.  While one could say it had been a valid demo, it wouldn't really show what that instrument sounds like.  It would show how it can sound in the hands of someone who carefully plays it to show off the good points and hide any poor points of the sound.

I give more weight to where I hear real players working things out for an actual song/recital, because there you can hear more of the tone and the qualities of the sound.  They won't be playing carefully to avoid any less-than-stellar sounds and making the most of the instrument's good points.

To be honest, I didn't call Shar to order an Amadeus.  I was going to order a used Concert (same model Coolpink plays) that they had gotten back when someone traded it in.  But that one was gone when I called, so I let the nice saleslady do her job and go through her pitch on some of the other models I could buy new.  I had already read the descriptions on the other models.

What I hadn't read was that they routinely do trade-ins.  Mostly for models they sell, though they will try and allow at least something if you have a violin bought somewhere else.  If I had been willing to wait a bit, they could have given me a call when somebody traded in the model I was originally looking for.  They routinely do a fair bit of business selling the trade-ins, which made sense considering a trade-in was what I was originally looking to buy.  I've gotten some good deals buying used equipment over the years.

I'm not the sort who usually trades in instruments, actually.  Usually, if I like it well enough to keep in the first place, I'd rather give an old instrument that starts gathering dust to a family member or friend, to encourage them to play.  But that they have a trade-in program was definitely a bit different than buying off Amazon or ebay.  I look at that as them considering the instrument as being worth something, even after they have sold it.

I also could have rented an instrument, or I could have had them send me a couple violins "on approval" and only paid for the one I didn't send back.  But while those are probably good options for some folks, it's just not the way my brain works.  So I just took the chance and bought the Amadeus.  I could also have afforded to get a better model, but bought just the violin, with no case, bow or etc.  My wife said that would be being "Penny wise, pound foolish", and to get the outfit since it isn't a good idea to even ship an instrument without a case, and I needed a new bow anyway.  I can't really argue that point.

So originally, I was going to buy a used Hoffmann "Concert" and a bow that they had on special.  Instead, I ended up buying the "Amadeus" with the usual little outfit of case, bow, rosin.  I can say I am pleased with it, and feel I got a good value.  You know me well enough from my long-winded threads (like this one is heading towards being) to know I don't overlook problems just because an instrument  is new, or try to think I have something wonderful if an instrument doesn't play right or isn't made right.  If there was something to it that I felt needed fixed before the instrument was right, I'd tear into it without a second thought for warranties or trade-in value.  But other than some very minor cosmetic points, I haven't found anything I don't like about this violin yet.  I have been looking.  LOL

However.. I don't think you can go far wrong with a K-550 or a Concert Master, either.  By all accounts of real people right here in this forum, those are both excellent instruments.  They sound nice and if there were problems with them, I am sure they would have come up in the discussions.  Besides, Pierre knows violins.  He doesn't have a soundman setting up the recordings and he puts all the instruments he demos through some very similar paces.  He isn't "making them sound good", watching him play, he is listening for flaws as well as good points. 

No offense at all intended to Pierre.. But if he was a used car salesman, he'd starve.  He's a great player and he knows more about violin sound than I ever will.  But he doesn't do hype well, and he doesn't "sell the dream".  If he makes money selling gear, it is by only selling gear that he actually can honestly talk good about. 

Now, why I was dead set against buying a Cecilio.. They probably do make some good violins.  They make some that Pierre can actually recommend, and like I said, he is honest to the point where if he was relying only on his abilities as a salesman I think he and his family might go hungry sometimes.  But I had already bought one of their low end instruments, one of their cheapest "Mendinis".  I may be odd in this, but one thing I think about is how cheap a company will go and what corners they will cut to make a buck.  As anybody here will warn, you get what you pay for, especially in the low end of the market.  Pierre can tell what is ok in their line (and doesn't sell their line as cheap as the MV300 I bought), but I can't.  So I tried a company where the cheapest violin was 160$ instead of 60$, and I have been pleased with the result.

Not saying that a 160$ Cecilio might not be as good.  But I kind of lost faith that they would be where I would spend more money when I saw what they will do in the low end, and when I found out how much trouble it can be to get an answer about materials and etc when calling their customer service.  I asked the saleslady at Shar if the fingerboard on the Amadeus was painted or dyed.  She said it wasn't painted, since you can see the grain, but explained it was "almost certainly" dyed because very little ebony wood is actually pure black and on any beginner grade instrument the ebony is usually dyed because it won't have been the prettiest ebony in the world.  That is true enough and an honest answer.  I don't mind dyed, actually, but I have a thing against painted fingerboards.  But she didn't tell me what she thought I might want to hear just to make the sale, and she knew enough to be able to answer that question straight off.  Cecilio gave me quite a run-around about even what kind of wood was under the paint on my Mendini.  I never did actually get what I felt was a sure and straight answer, calling as a customer who had already paid for it.

I may put overmuch faith into things like that, or read too much into a music place having a trade-in program, but since I don't actually know enough about violins to be able to pick a really good one on sound and while I may know some things to look for on workmanship I definitely don't know all the things somebody like Pierre (or you, for that matter) would know to check, so things like that are how I decide where to spend money.

I can't say for sure you'd like my Amadeus, Fiddlestix.  You are a more experienced player than I am and could be listening for different things in the tone than I am.  Things I like about how it handles and plays, you might not like.  Every company/maker will have a certain tone and feel, and you might not like Hoffmanns at all.  Like with electric guitars, in the same price/quality grade, some folks like Fenders better and some like Gibsons better.  They feel different and play different and every player likes what they like.

So even a higher level Hoffman might not be what you like.  You are thinking about a K-550 or a Concert master, and I'd be willing to bet that in the price range you're talking there, I'd bet you can't go far wrong with either.