Ibach I recall have a lovely sound. Shimmel also,but thinner. Though a sample of one new instrument can only tell you so much. I agree each piano is different. No Ibach dealer in the UK that I can find.

Looking on the Internet a bit, I see now that Bechstein and Kawai share space with showrooms in Manchester and London. The Kawai 214 is a quarter the price of equivalent Bosendorfer.
And as soon as price comparisons are made, the fun decreases and the stress of parting with vast amounts of cash increases.


I'm still a bit perturbed that I didn't take to any of the five regular Steinway B's. And that the only instrument I truly liked better than my Bluthner B upright is £325,000.
Is my hearing, at the age of 62, age-affected, biased?
I need to try more pianos.


For a laugh yesterday, I thought I'd quickly check the price of a Steinway 132cm upright:
•Steinway k in black £54k. In mahogany case £65k
What

I do not think it is your hearing! A few months ago, I was moving my son to a new city and he needed a sustain pedal for his digital piano. We wandered into a local music store to buy one -- turned out the music store happened to be the local Steinway dealer. I had very similar price shock to you - the cheapest grand was $140K or so. I played a few of them for kicks and thought they were all pretty meh. Given their astronomical price tags I expected them to blow me away and they didn't even come close. This piano store was in a midsized midwest city that is certainly not famous for its high rollers, so I can't imagine that they sell a whole lot of them. I just don't get it.

I play a rebuilt 1926 Chickering grand and when I bought it in 2004, I had traveled all over 3 states looking at pianos (both old and new). At the time, there were one or two pianos that I liked a bit more than the Chickering but they were more than twice the price and I didn't feel they were anywhere near twice as good. Since buying my Chickering, I still play pianos in stores whenever I can....I'd consider trading mine in if I found something that just completely blows me away but I have yet to find something that I even like equally as much.

I will say that I have seen some amazing bargains go by on my local craigslist and facebook marketplace - haven't played them in person, of course, but it seems like the bottom has fallen out of the used grand piano market around here -- I've seen some beautiful instruments (think <20 year old Estonias, Petrofs, and Yamahas - many of the brands I was shopping new back in 2004) for unbelievable prices from sellers that are downsizing and desperate to unload....which to me, makes the crazy price increases for new Steinways even more baffling! I would definitely take your time and try some used ones/rebuilt ones.....the value is just so much better when you aren't looking new.

I missed a bit off my post above...
Ibach I recall have a lovely sound. Shimmel also,but thinner. Though a sample of one new instrument can only tell you so much. I agree each piano is different. No Ibach dealer in the UK that I can find.

Looking on the Internet a bit, I see now that Bechstein and Kawai share space with showrooms in Manchester and London. The Kawai 214 is a quarter the price of equivalent Bosendorfer.
And as soon as price comparisons are made, the fun decreases and the stress of parting with vast amounts of cash increases.


I'm still a bit perturbed that I didn't take to any of the five regular Steinway B's. And that the only instrument I truly liked better than my Bluthner B upright is £325,000.
Is my hearing, at the age of 62, age-affected, biased?
I need to try more pianos.


For a laugh yesterday, I thought I'd quickly check the price of a Steinway 132cm upright:
•Steinway k in black £54k. In mahogany case £65k
What!

It's irresistible once you start...
•Bosendorfer 130cm in black £48k
•Bechstein concert 8 131cm in black £43k
•Bluthner B 132cm in black £33k

So our Bluthner B in mahogany, new, costs the same as a Kawai 214 or Yamaha cx3.

Lisa,
Yes, I'll take a deep breath and consider this a long term project; probably once a month travelling to London and using that trip to visit piano showrooms.

Unless I win the lottery, then that '88 Steinway special' has my name on it

quote:

a long term project

Yep, that's the way to do it.

I was piano shopping for probably 6 months. Driving all over the place, sometimes we'd make a day of it, go to piano dealer #1 in another town, find a fun restaurant there, go to another town for a private seller etc.

I just took my time, and in the end, I bought a piano from a private seller. I had seen enough, played enough, talked with enough dealers, and my tech so much, that I was comfortable making the decision.

Oh, and the piano I bought, I had gone to play it when it first popped up, but it was out of tune (horribly so) and I ruled it out.

A few weeks or months later, they lowered the price, and I was able to convince them to pay to have the piano tuned. I played it again, this time with my tech on the phone. Then I went back yet another time, maybe 2 weeks later, this time with my piano tech with me in person, and he did a very full and thorough evaluation.

So it all worked out, but it was definitely very much a long-term project.

Are you sure you want new? I'd guess you can do a lot better buying used. There are a lot of grands for sale around here.

Totally unsure Mik. I'll be looking at everything that is about the correct size of 6-7ft

I'm holding out for a Sauder. I'll be holding out for a long time.

Note to self-- start spending a few dollars on the lottery. There are a million options.

Do you mean Sauter?

They are stocked in the UK
https://www.coachhousepianos.c...nd&post_type=product

If you are still looking around and happen across a (used) Pleyel, give it a shot! I still regret having to give up mine when we moved about 12 years ago.

I just heard an expert pianist playing through a chronology of Chopin. It was interesting. It was also product placement for Apple music and Boston pianos.

I listed to it for the full twenty minutes. I certainly no expert but I have some discernment for music. I'm sorry to say I wasn't really impressed with the Boston. It seemed solid and probably above average in general but the it sounded flat to me, not flat vs. sharp, but compressed, if that makes sense. The tones lacked depth and brilliance. I doubt my evaluation is very far off, not that it would not be surprising given Boston's market aims.

I wouldn't say no if someone wanted to give me one. Apple music? Probably no chance. It seems very interesting but I have no plans to switch from Android.

At any rate, I'd like know more about/ listen to more of Chopin.

Just endorsing the recommendation to look at used or rebuilt pianos. I am looking as well, and it seems there are tons of pianos for sale relatively cheaply, even major makes. Seniors may be downsizing, or maybe also younger people are not taking up the piano (sadly) or simply choosing electronics.