Pianos are percussion instruments according to the Hornbostel-Sachs system of categorizing musical instruments. It belongs to the percussion family because it produces sounds by striking the strings with a felt covered hammers. It is often miscategorized as a string instrument because it has strings. A pipe organ is the better choice for testing bass response. A Pipe organ which is a wind instrument, can produce very low notes, all the way down to 16 Hz, which is lower than what most full-range speakers can reproduce without a very good subwoofer.
Why not the piano as a reference for bass
I see a lot of commentary/reviews on a systems bass response that all seem to hinge on the 41 hz double bass and such range. At 27.5 the A0 note on a piano seems a better point to judge. Lots of piano in normal music vs say an organ note. I know when I feel that deep chord played it is one of things I enjoy about listening the most! Was listening to Wish you were here live and the piano was sublime.
So is it more of how much musical energy is perceived in the 40 hz range or what that makes this more of a reproduction benchmark?
I welcome your input!
New Joe Bonamassa out BTW!