About 10 years ago I went from a $200 beater classical to a $500 student classical. The beater was a Dean and the better guitar, which I still have, is a Manuel Rodriguez. At that time Fender imported them from Spain. Now Guitar Center sells them but I am not familiar with the quality of the new ones. I don't know what $500 in 2003 translates into 2013 dollars. I recently had my action lowered and it actually improved the sound as well as making the guitar easier to play. I use rest strokes and free strokes and cannot induce a buzz anywhere with this new setup. I haven't measured it. I had pros do the set up and just trusted them. When I was shopping 10 years ago I read an article that said a solid cedar top in the student range would usually be better quality than a spruce top, solid or laminate, in the same price range. The article said that select spruce went on more expensive guitars. So I went with solid cedar and I have been happy with this guitar. I was able to find the article:
http://classicalguitarbuilder.com/ma...ewsletter.html