Oops. $5k... (apiece)
What are the best loudspeakers under $4000 to re-create lifelike piano
Over the past 4 months I've spent time with five loudspeakers. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate them as follows in their ability (with my equipment in my room) to recreate a lifelike piano. Tekton Lore - 6.5 (great scale but tonal accuracy and clarity somewhat lacking), Kef LS50 - 7.0 (moderate scale but slightly better clarity and tonal accuracy) Kef R500 - 8.0 (great scale and very good clarity and tonal accuracy), Spatial Audio M3TurboS -8.1 (great scale and very good clarity and tonal accuracy and very smooth) Magnepan 1.7i - 9.0 (very good scale with excellent clarity and tonal accuracy - very lifelike).
In your room with your equipment, what loudspeakers are you listening too and how would you rate them for their ability to recreate a lifelife piano and if possible a few comments as to why?
In your room with your equipment, what loudspeakers are you listening too and how would you rate them for their ability to recreate a lifelife piano and if possible a few comments as to why?
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- 160 posts total
@bdp24 - I’d settle for being 1/2 right 1/2 the time, but thank you. There was a pretty serious piano restoration house near me when I lived in Westchester, NY- they had a warehouse full of big old grand pianos, some virtually shells, others complete but in need of work. Two otherwise "identical" pianos from the same manufacturer that were set up in the same room could sound vastly different from one another, depending on how the piano was voiced, the materials used for the hammers, action, etc. I’m hardly a guru on that stuff, but I know when I was struggling to maintain an ancient Bosendorfer, the piano swami would spend hours tweaking it- it was like a voice from heaven for a week, maybe two, and then began to slide into disc(h)ord. I kind of miss having a big piano here. Gotta find a solution to that, though I don’t play very much any more. (Have a Nord, which is a decent electronic keyboard but it ain’t even close- even the Rhodes sound isn’t really very convincing (though I suppose there are downloads or tweaks one can do, I dunno). I used to steal away when I was a youngster to play the grand piano in the large school auditorium when it wasn’t in use-- it was fabulous to play in a big empty hall as a kid, and I never had to worry about the audience. :) |
This is one of the most lifelike piano recordings I have heard. Worth picking up if you can. https://www.ebay.com/itm/David-Montgomery-the-Piano-LP-Mint-Audiophile-USA-D2D-EX-EX/181765845045?ha... |
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Grannyring, thanks for your response. I believe you have a good memory - you described my Bolero's well. I'll probably pass on the Tektons - a can just see all that audio angst starting all over again! :-) Back to good piano recordings, FWIW I have a few that sound pretty good, but one that is better than most I've heard on my system. I'd love to hear it on others, or hear from anyone who just might have. 'American Piano Music' by Sebastian Knauler on Berlin Classic's. I quite like the way the engineers have set up their mic's to produce a lot of detail yet keeping the integrity of the sound of a live piano on the on the stage. |
- 160 posts total