The previous CG171SF has better tone, wood, construction and finish

Right out of the box the action was perfect and the tone has a clarity that no other Flamenco I played for under $7,000 had

they are made to accompany dance and must be very bright, with not the best tone.

I think upgrading to a harder material will vastly improve tone and sustain

I have owned and played several guitars from a couple of $40 chinese classicals, an antonio hermosa ah10, cordoba c5, and my current alhambra 5p - the Yamaha with a bone saddle has a volume equal or slightly louder than the 5p (significantly louder than the C5) and a tone that is almost as rich as the 5p but with the bright, raspy flamenco character

It is solid Engleman spruce, which I have always loved for the quick, responsive, open tone it seems to have

After replacing the plastic saddle with bone - the tone is greatly improved and the volume even louder

The tone was clear and the action was very playable