Do I buy another piano?

[lyn862]

I need advice.  I am retiring next summer and I want to get back to playing the piano.  I took years of lessons as a child from a very good teacher.  I was an intermediate student.  My siblings all did better than me and now play for church, etc.  I would “bomb” at recitals, which was sad after all the work.  I have had a piano in the intervening years and all my children play the piano better than me.  I love music and I am wondering if I wouldn’t like just playing for myself.  I love listening to piano.
I don’t enjoy playing my piano.  I complained about it to my son who said he has never liked it.  It is a very old upright grand.  It is beautiful.  When my piano tuner came last summer, I asked him what he thought of my piano and he said it was worn out.  He said for a couple thousand dollars, I could probably pick up a used piano that would be better quality as people are getting rid of pianos right now.
I live in rural Idaho and the closest music store is more than an hour away.  I went and played used pianos in the store.  The pianos that were in my price range did not impress me.  The ones I loved were $10,000.  Out of my price range.  The most I have ever paid for a car is $5,000.
Is it likely that I would enjoy playing a better piano enough to make it worth the damage to my nest egg?  Or should I shop more?  Or just keep listening to other people?  I hate that money has to be involved at all.  It was a major financial commitment for all of my children to take piano lessons and I was willing to make it, without question.

[essence]

I think there have been several discussions on this topic before. One aspect to consider is whether a good digital piano might fit the bill better.

$10,000 seems a lot, even for an excellent upright. Dealers of course will charge more, but they will also do lots of work. Kawai are quite respected.

The main problem may be your lack of dealers and choices and private sellers. So a recommended (on here) digital may be a safer option. I would never buy an acoustic piano without playing it.

With a digital piano there is also the question of a sound system. A basic hifi won't do the job.  i once hooked up a couple of Yamaha studio monitors to a digital piano, and it sounded excellent. There are several Yamaha HS models, depending on budget, there are other brands In my view it is absolutely pointless having a Bosendorfer sound sample and a terrible speaker. So for a $2000 budget I would spend $1500 on the piano, $500 on the speakers. Maybe your children can pool together and get you a gift?

Beware whether speaker prices are for a single or a pair. Monitor speakers should have an amplifier inside them.

Are you anywhere near Boise? There is a GuitarCentre there which may be useful.

[i have very little experience, I am not a dealer, just starting a conversation.]

       

[rachmaninoff_forever]

It might be good to find a free piano in a larger city and then pay to get it moved to where you live.

[essence]

It may be useful to look on

https://www.klaviano.com/

or there may be other websites for the USA.

[lyn862]

There is not a single piano listed within 300 miles of my house on klaviano.com/.

[picosinge]

Have you looked at Craigslist?  Not sure where in Idaho you are, but in Boise, there is a Yamaha U1 for $5,490, a Kawaii grand for $8,500, a Kawaii digital grand for $1,350, and in Nampa, a Yamaha U3  for $6,500, a Yamaha digital grand for $3,000, etc., etc.

I am not suggesting anyone to do this - I bought both my small grand and harpsichord remotely - both used, just based on dealer's warranty, conversations, and sound clips.  It helps that I was pretty much set on what I want (a Petrof for piano and a double-manual Franco-Flemish harpsichord).  And I lucked out, being very happy with both instruments.  So if can be done.