Bought my VI alto brand new in 1967, and it was my ONLY sax for 40 years. Only in recent years have I sampled the pro instruments of the past. I have enjoyed them all immensely, but none of them stands up to my VI. Some are brighter, some darker, some with wonderful low registers, some with edgy high registers; each has its own distinct character that it takes time to learn. But the VI does everything well (though not everything perfectly, as there is no such thing). It has been my partner through high school, university, graduate school, professional playing, teaching, everything. Perhaps if I had 40 years on a 6M, or The Martin, or King Zephyr/Super 20, or Buescher 140/400, I would feel similarly about one of them. But I played most of the above for a period of time each, after I had spent 40 years on saxophone, and so I learned their assets and deficits much more quickly. The VI does it for me; 44 years on it makes it a life partner musicially, and I know it "inside and out."