Overall I think this is the best modern horn I've played in years - simple. The most important thing to me is sound - how the sax reacts to my airflow, how I can shape the sound and how easy it is for me to get that natural sound. A close second is intonation - I don't want to be wasting energy when I'm playing worrying about pitch. Ergonomics aren't that important to me - I can get used to anything pretty much but it is a bonus if it feels right. How a sax looks is not important particularly to me. So the Lupifaro Platinum has the sound and presence of a great Selmer SBA in my opinion with a little more power and a little less sweetness - playability is excellent - response is amazing it just follows you instantly. Intonation is the best I've experienced - altissimo was great and even low B/Bb traditionally a little flat for me was spot on. Ergonomics was all there - weirdly this is the only modern sax I've tried that actually feels old. There have been lots of modern saxes trying to recreate that vintage feel and sound and many have come close but as soon as you pick up a real vintage horn you realise there's that elusive magical feeling missing. I don't think it's just the set up - sure you can balance springs light and adjust pad heights etc but there's something about the metal and key positions of a vintage horn that's different. Looks wise it's ok - it looks metal . Comparing it to a T J Raw is a bit tricky. I think the Raw is a great value sax and is certainly more versatile. I would compare a Raw more to a Selmer reference 54 - it has some MKVIsh qualities but is still very modern. It's unfair to compare the Horn '88 to the Lupifaro Platinum - the '88 is a great intermediate instrument, surprisingly better than past "upgrade" saxes T James have offered and certainly punches above it's weight but is nowhere near the Lupifaro Platinum concept. Again these are only my humble thoughts and I have a very specific sound concept in my mind which could well be different to yours. I only play modern jazz, no longer any commercial music so the tool I need to do my job may not be right for you. However, any serious players that have been searching for that missing link between vintage and modern that we've been promised over and over again might want to take a look at the Platinum - a good original SBA tenor will set you back £6-7000ish so I think these are certainly not cheap (and I would been concerned if they were) but are considerably cheaper than vintage selmers, modern selmers, borganis etc. I understand the gold series which are priced around £15-1800 are standard Taiwanese made - I should imagine similar to Mauriats et al. The Platinum is hand made (body and neck) in Italy - some of the mechanism is Taiwanese - I think mainly posts etc. the chap who makes them used to work for Borgani and he has gone into partnership with a Swiss company who appear to have invested in the project. I'm sure Pete Scaddan can furnish everyone with more accurate details regarding the manufacturing and so on. I haven't bought a new sax for over 5 years - I have ordered one