I had a DC Alto Sax for 2 years before I sold it, while I was streamlining the amount of altos that I have. Here is my opinion of it. I paid $300 for mine brand new in 2005. It was not a bad horn for the money. The action was great and the sax never needed any work. There were some shortcomings. The sax was suppose to be completely checked out before it left the seller's shop. It apparantly never was. The cork tore the first time I went to use the horn, even with a lot of cork grease. On the low c key the felt was never cut down to proper size at the factory and there was a whole string of it coming out of the socket hole. On the bell, the DC logo engraving was done in a half sloppy manner and was half there and half illegible. The model I had was a copy of the YAS-52. They did a nice job copying the 52, however, the DC's metal was a bit thinner, especially at the bell flare. I also found the metal to be a little soft. Just prior to selling the sax, I found that a pin size dimple had formed on the back of the body just about an inch above the neckstrap and I had taken pristine care of this sax, and it was never dented, and did not have a single scratch in it. Also, when I won the sax on the auction, the case that was listed was a very protective hardshell case. The actual case that arrived, while light, convenient, and soft, was not very protecting. I realized that while carrying the horn that if I were to hit the case against anything that the horn would be damaged. The horn played well and the action was just as strong as it was with an actual Yamaha, and it held up. The sound was rather good, very bright. Shipping was a huge hassle. The sax was shipped to me via DHS. I was not home when DHS arrived and a note was left on my door. DHS made me travel 30 minutes to their center to pick up the sax. The sax was packed very well for shipping. Overall, though it was a good deal for the money.