[Carbonius]

I am thinking about buying a nylon string guitar. I have always loved classical music, was raised on it. Along the way I got into everything else, but I have always wanted to learn classical. I have been very frustrated by what's available in stores. They carry dozens of $2,000 to $4,000 steel string guitars, but mostly $400 and under nylon string. I take it there's very little interest. Some are okay, but none are great. So here are some questions;

1. What do dead nylon strings sound like. dull thud?? I'm thinking that some of these just might have dead strings, thus the dull and uninspiring tone.

2. Intonation... what's the deal here??? The saddle is so thin and the intonation on many is deplorable! Can't even play past the 7th fret on some. I watch videos of traditional classical players using the whole fretboard. Many have good to very good intonation. Is it just due to cheap guitars?

3. Sustain. Some online players have decent sustain. Not like steel of course, I know that. But many of the guitars I tried had hardly any sustain. Cheap guitar, dead strings??

4. My local choices are La Patrie, Almansa, Yamaha & Cordoba. I will not order from anyone else as I am sick of the expensive CDN shipping rates when the guitar doesn't work out for me! I would consider it in the future, but this is my nylon starter guitar. However I have a very sensitive ear for intonation, so I don't want just a student guitar. Which is my best bang for the buck? I need to be under $900 CDN so $700 USD.

Thanks!