bosies are nice don't get me wrong, and i have had a chance to play many from all over their sizes ranges and from different years (even one that now belongs to a doctor that was a friend of mine who bought it off the san fransisco symphony folks i believe), although you immediately get the sense that you are playing a very well made functioning/functional work of art, I have yet to experience a visceral, oh wow, response, one which i should say i have gotten after messing with other 'less glamorous'/boutique brands including the my all time favorite, the shigeru, then estonia pianos, and mason and hamlins. also i have had an encounter or two with some baldwins which were pretty spectacular that i believe on a purely emotinal level i think i would choose of the bosies i have tried.
really i've got my heart set on trying the other germans i have yet to experience, bechstein, seiler, sauter, and grotrian.
My personal fetish is over stuart and sons. Primarily because I've seen a video based on the pianos and a scientific analysis of them.
To put it really simply, they made an adjustment to how the string is mounted. In any other piano, supposedly the string is struct and vibrates vertically, then gradually progresses to horizontally. Where as in a stuart and sons there is an additional part that ensures the vibration remains vertical. They argue that this means better sustain and a sweeter tone (and it was reviewed and agreed on by an independent scientific body). They also say that because of this there is much greater clarity in the lower register, as in you can play busier clusters of low notes without the sound becoming "muddy"..
And in their recorded samples I'm inclined to agree that it sounds pretty great..
But maybe my fetish is fuelled by the anticipation of something amazing, and the real thing may not be that significant..
They start at 150K, and only appear in their own showroom/private homes/concert halls - so I don't get to try anytime soon
Topic: Piano Porn