I had the honour of hearing the 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stadivarius played last Autumn,and it was awesome!!! I think I am still holding my breath ;)I currently play a Durro, which was inexpensive,(I think it would have worked out to around 1000 U.S. dollars), but it is a great little violin with a deep resonating voice. I was thrilled to get it because for years I had been playing on (it was all I could afford at the time) a cheap Chinese made (almost toy like) fiddle. A word about those old Strad (etc) 'copies'. They can actually be quite collectable!