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How to reproduce sound of piano


I currently own a decent rig, Mac MA 2275, AP Sparks, Marantz 8001, Rega Apollo, Benchmark DAC w/ Squeezebox Duet. I love the way it sounds with jazz, voice, orchestral works and also it's decent with chamber music.

But I find when I'm listening to piano solo performances it doesn't quite sound nearly good as the live instrument. This is too bad because I mainly listen to classical piano works. I want to build a new system from scratch dedicated to listen to solo piano works as well as piano conertos.
I don't care for "warmth", "timbre", "soundstage" or other loaded audiophile terms. Just want absolutely accurate piano reproduction as possible.

What qualities should I look for? Analog vs digital source. Solid state vs tube amp? I find my tube amp unable to keep up with technical masters as Pollini or Horowitz. But will going to SS take away from the performces of more romantic pianists like Kempf and Zimerman? As for speakers, I never heard of a speaker capable of reproducing the deep bass of a 9ft+ concert Steinway grand. Are electrostatics way to go? My budget is around $25K USD. Thanks for any feedback.
plaser

Showing 5 responses by muralman1

muralman1
1,527 posts
 
My Apogee Scintillas, source a no oversampling DAC, can not only do a piano accurately from the lowest A key to the highest C, but at full volume as well.

We have a nice piano too.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
"If you were to hear what a piano like this actually sounds like in a living room, I don't think anyone here would be claiming that his system quite reproduces that sound."

I am not sure what your point is.

What we have is a hundred year old piano with a thick sound board, and sounds bold and robust. A Steinway Grand will sound smoother, and just as big. My Scintillas don't sound like my piano. They sound like the big grand piano recorded at some particular space in some particular manner.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Shadorne, you are right to point out overworked tweeters will smear over subtle resonances.

The Scintilla has yards of tweeter that never sound overworked. Highs flow off the ribbons naturally.

The mid ribbon is married to the tweeters so one cannot listen to one without the other. The big bass is musical into the 20s frequencies. All of that adds to a very great piano imitator.

In fact, the reason I own Apogee Scintillas is because of a fateful day listening to one in the 80's. I wandered about the listening room trying to convince myself I wasn't listening to some unseen piano player. I gave up, until I saw a Glodmund turntable spinning a record.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Thanks for steering us back to the subject at hand.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
I kind of wonder that day I walked into Keith Yates's main music room and heard someone playing a piano somewhere down a hall. It didn't matter where I moved around the huge room, the piano was down the hall. It might have been played mono.

Stereo piano stretches the piano keys across the speaker plane when recorded that way. It is common enough. The piano is right there in front of me, but I still would like to hear the piano down the hall just the same.
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