Best speaker/system piano concerts


Hi,

I enjoy many type of music but am a big fan of piano concerts. I’ve been to Hifi shows before but often find the music that they are playing not to my taste. 

Does anyone have recommendations for a speaker and amplifier that would be great to reproduce big piano plays realistically? I don’t think it’s easy for a system to have the speed and weight that the piano produces.

Would say speakers that are around 20-25k second hand and amps of 10-15k used

Looking forward to your suggestions.


hififreakk

Showing 2 responses by auxinput

I think you need a crisp/clean type of speaker to reproduce those effectively.  Many people don't realize that piano really needs fast attack and clarity.  Otherwise, it becomes too warm/slow and you loose resolution and impact.

Avoid speakers that use polypropylene or Kevlar type drivers for woofers/midrange.  Also avoid Morel/Dynaudio type speakers.

B&W D3 speakers are excellent in clarity and realness if paired with the proper amplification.  Their new D3 midrange driver has excellent clarity and the diamond tweeter carries that to the high frequencies.  Look at 803 D3 at the $13k to $14k level used.  The 802 D3 model can be had used and still under your budget.

Monitor Audio Platinum also comes to mind with their magnesium drivers and ribbon tweeters.  I would recommend listening to them first.  For my own preferences, I think the ribbon tweeters push too hard on the high frequencies and it loses realness.  You may feel differently, however.

For amps, Parasound JC1 to start with.  Or higher level Krell amps are excellent.  There's a pair of Krell Solo 575 monoblock amps on audiogon for $10.5k.  Classe monoblocks can also be excellent.

Amplifier choice also dictates what kind of sound you get.  If you want lots of attack and slam and excitement, Parasound or Krell are great choices.  If you want something neutral and controlled, Pass Labs amplifiers are great.

wow, I think we all did more harm than good at this point.  With speakers, I have noticed that there are sometimes going to be 12 different opinion on what is best. lol.  sorry.