Advice on buying a piano

[faa2010]

I am thinking on buying a piano.  My house is not so big, so I think a grand piano is discarded.

What I am looking is a piano which can aid me with my piano technique, which can make my fingers stronger and lighter with other pianos, where I can feel that the sounds are low or high based on the force my fingers apply (this is one disadvantage of the keyboards).

Maybe this question has a lot of answers, but I would like to have a wider panorama in order to make a good purchase. 

[cjp_piano]

There are so many possibilities, you just need to go to dealers and stores and just try them out!

[49410enrique]

please don't write off a grand piano, even in a small space there are some high quality and marvelous instruments that can work in a tiny room.

you did not mention your budget, among the smaller instruments i have really fallen in love estonia pianos, they only make grands and only three sizes, a small grand, a standard larger grand, and concert grand. the L168 is their small piano and works well and is considered the best you can do in a small living room or studio apartment/falt.

[gn622]

About how much do small grands cost?

[49410enrique]

About how much do small grands cost?

they're all over the place from around 4500 USD to 50,000+ or so it depends on the builder, finish, etc.

[faa2010]

Right now, I can afford 12,500 dolars for a piano.

[49410enrique]

Right now, I can afford 12,500 dolars for a piano.

that really puts a huge number of fine instruments within your reach, in the US (and really globablly with the world wide economic slow down), it is very much a buyers market especially on the used side of things, you can buy A LOT of HIGH QUALITY piano for that kind (and dare I say even a bit less) money, but yes at the top of your budget you have access to some fine American, Asian, and European brands, at this point it will really pay off big time to spend lots of time playing a variety of instruments to see what you are preferring. i think one of the better deals in terms of quality, durability, etc are the kawai RX line which is their high end instruments.

in general stay away from the most inexpensive offering by a builder, that is if your 12K can buy you a top end model line from builder x it is generally a better bet than the cheapest offering from builder Y (there are exceptions such as the high end boutique brands since they seldom produce bad instruments but even the cheapest in those is outside your budget and real of discussion here).

[faa2010]

Update.

Thanks to the piano I had, I improved in my skills and I played good in the recital.

I am now convinced that the trademark and the model are not important in the end.

[hfmadopter]

Update.

Thanks to the piano I had, I improved in my skills and I played good in the recital.

I am now convinced that the trademark and the model are not important in the end.

Wait a minute, you can't get off that easy ! What piano did you have ?