by Stephen N. Reed, updated on 1/6/23
You’d really like to buy a grand piano, but your space is limited. What to do? A baby grand can be the perfect piano for the buyer who has a room in their home that is too small for a full grand but which can accommodate a piano that is a little bit smaller.
The term “baby grand” has been prevalent for decades but without universal agreement about the exact size of this kind of piano. The consensus is that a grand piano under 6′ in length is in the baby grand category.
In addition, the smaller size allows for some savings in the cost. The case and the soundboard all require a lesser amount of expensive materials.
While a baby grand piano can’t deliver the power of a full-sized grand, it usually produces more volume than an upright piano. So the buyer comes away experiencing many aspects of a grand piano, just in a smaller size and cost.
But what does a baby grand cost? That depends on whether it’s new or used, what brand it is, how old it is, and what condition it’s in. We’ve seen many baby grands at M. Steinert & Sons. We have been helping customers for 160 years to find the best piano for their needs.
By the of this article, we will give you a better idea of what kind of baby grand piano you can buy across a range of prices. It’s worth noting that in 2022-2023, the piano world experienced increased costs across the board, resulting in price increases ranging from 5% to 10%.
The used piano market is enormous. Some buyers will try out different used pianos at other piano stores, hoping to find a great deal while securing a piano with most of its life still ahead.
Others with less money look at “for sale by owner” types of pianos, including baby grands. These are not certified and typically are sold “as is,” as the individual seller is usually not interested in making repairs. They want to get rid of the piano, so they are willing to offer it for a low price.
“Free pianos abound in our marketplace,” says Steve Hauk, Sales Manager for M. Steinert & Sons. “Hire a reputable guild technician to assess it before accepting it.”
You can usually find a $500, or even free, baby grand without much effort. But the internal condition of such pianos is often so poor as to have no musical value whatsoever. We’ve written an additional article on the questions to ask before accepting a free piano.
A 2023 look at the Boston-area Craigslist shows the kinds and qualities of baby grands at the next lower end of the price spectrum, $501 to $10,000.
For example, the year 2000, Petrof Chippendale for $7,900 with a player system (using floppy disks).
A 1988 Samick Grand in Gloss Walnut for $3900.
On any given day, one can find a baby grand with questionable or fading musical value in this price range.
The main problem with baby grands in this price range is that unless you bring a qualified piano technician along, you may never know how little you’re getting until you bring this sizable piece of furniture home. That is true whether one buys a new or used piano.
This is not to say that decent used baby grand pianos don’t exist. They do. But they are more likely to be found at an authorized piano dealer that provides some warranty coverage.
Certified Pre-owned pianos offered by authorized dealers are typically not older than 30 years and in good condition, having been checked by a professional piano technician. Certified Pre-owned pianos can run into the $20,000-$60,000 range and more for newer reputable brands and models.
Also, this range incorporates new Essex baby grands, the most affordable of the Steinway-designed pianos. A new model in this line is possible in this price range. Read more about their smaller grands here, like the EGP-155C Classic Grand and the EGP-155F French Provincial, starting at $15,900. Or you could look into the small Yamaha GB1K Baby Grand Piano, starting at $15,299.
Many take their chances on a used Steinway in this range without a technician’s opinion – this could make for a very dubious investment.
In this range, some good, new mid-high brand baby grands are available. For example, if you want to move up to a higher quality Steinway family piano, a new Boston baby grand, the 5’1″ GP-156 New Performance Edition II can be bought for $25,400.
A 5’3″ Yamaha Model C1X lists for $37,999
A 5’11” Kawai Model GX-2BLK list for $46,495
Some good, used Steinways can be found in this range with some effort.
Once the range is between $40,001–$85,000, much higher quality baby grand pianos are possible. For example, a Steinway Certified Pre-owned baby grand piano under 6′ falls into this range at different places depending on the age and condition.
The quality advantage of getting a Certified Pre-owned model comes from knowing that all Steinway parts have been used in any repairs. Steinway Authorized Dealers only certify pianos that are 30 years old or less.
This upper range of cost yields several advantages to the buyer who is in a position to pay more for a new baby grand. A new baby grand has a longer life, as it is freshly made. Plus, many piano companies offer a warranty with a new piano.
Steinway & Sons also offers a trade-up policy for any new Steinway, Boston, or Essex piano purchase. When you purchase any new or Pre-owned Steinway, you will receive 100% of the original purchase price in trade toward a new Steinway or Steinway-Designed piano of greater value for the lifetime of the instrument.
Prices for high-quality new baby grands start within this $40,001–$85,000 range and go beyond it, too. Within this range, a Bechstein 160 costs $73,900. A Mason Hamlin B is $86,035. A Model S from Steinway costs $86,600. The cost for other new baby grands can go well beyond $85,000, as with the Fazioli F-156, which costs $135,100.
In the meantime, enjoy reading some additional information and our video about how a baby grand can often fit in the same space as an upright piano:
by Stephen N. Reed
Yamaha makes a wide variety of piano models, of a wide range of quality. For example, some Yamahas are made with better woods than other of their models.
As a result, the smart piano buyer will want to do one’s research to determine whether the Yamaha models in their price range have the quality they desire. Understanding the different Yamaha model series is therefore very important.
The Essex line, developed for the entry market piano buyer by Steinway & Sons, has the same essential quality throughout their models. That includes the Steinway sound, which Steinway’s engineers brought to the Essex’s manufacturing process.
For comparative piano models, one may wonder which is the better piano, the Essex or the Yamaha. For the purposes of this comparison, we will compare the Essex EUP-123E vs. the Yamaha U-1 for upright pianos. Both brands have created quality products in these models, and one’s preference may come down to the two pianos’ tones.
By the time you’ve finished this article, you will be better informed as to the differences in these two piano brands and models. You’ll want to know these differences as the two models are essentially equivalent in price, between $9,000–$10,000 new.
Yamaha’s U series of upright pianos has gone through a redesign that has created some significant changes. For example, these pianos have major changes like refined scale designs, along with smaller touches like wider music desks.
Steve Hauk, Sales Manager for M. Steinert & Sons has seen U series models like the U-1 increase in popularity over time, noting that it has a bright sound that beginning students often enjoy.
“In a way, this bright quality to the U-1 goes well with early pieces a student learns, like those of Bach and Handel,” says Hauk. “But more tonal complexity is desirable as students continue in their piano lessons.”
This Yamaha brightness quality to their pianos’ tones is a frequent topic among piano users and online reviewers. Some have a concern that, however bright a U-1 piano is at the time of purchase, it will just get brighter as the hammer felts compact with use over time.
Others have noted that even a brand new U-1 can sound so bright as to be a piercing or punchy sound. Still others note that the touch seems too light and therefore is difficult to adjust well between dynamics. Still, many are pleased with this Yamaha model overall.
Refinements in all elements of sound production have given today’s U-1 a more resonant, if bright, voice with evenly balanced timbre across the entire keyboard.
The U-1 has rib configurations that add strength to the soundboard, while other advances further enhance rigidity, resonance, and structural stability.
U-1 hammers use materials selected for each model to provide optimum tone production, response, and long-term durability. U-1 is known for its light action.
A damping mechanism, formerly used only in grand pianos, prevents the fallboard from dropping abruptly onto the keyboard, guarding against accidental injury or damage.
The U-1 comes in the following colors: Polished Ebony, Polished White, Satin American Walnut, Polished Mahogany, and Satin Ebony.
In contrast to the Yamaha brightness, Essex models, including the EUP-123E, are characterized by a more warm tone, one with tonal complexity, and a reverberating bass.
The EUP-123E is also noted for a controllable action that can easily handle changes in dynamics.
Of all the aforementioned differences with the Yamaha U-1, the tone of the Essex EUP-123E is perhaps the most notable. When Steinway & Sons’ engineers created the Essex, they imported as much of the Steinway sound as possible to the Essex manufacturing process.
The result is a close approximation of a mellow tone known the world over from the public hearing it every time they listen to a Steinway & Sons piano on stage.
The EUP-123E is the tallest of the Essex uprights at 48.5, a half-inch taller than the Yamaha U-1.
Made by Steinway & Sons in collaboration with furniture designer William Faber, the EUP-123E has a grand-style leg top, a fold-back Top lid, brass hardware, and classic-style legs with a choice of Ebony Polish and Sapele Mahogany Satin finishes.
The EUP-123E uses high-grade, straight-grained, quarter-sawn spruce is selected for its resonant qualities and high strength-to-mass ratio. The soundboard is solid and not laminated, which creates the best resonance and projection of sound.
Like all Essex uprights, the EUP-123E has large backposts, giving a solid foundation for the resonating soundboard and tensioned vibrating strings. EUP-123A backpost locations are staggered, placed where the string tension is greatest.
A low tension string scale, designed by Steinway & Sons, gives a fuller, richer tone by allowing more of the lower partials to sing. It also has more sustain and has a more dynamic range than Yamaha’s U-1.
Materials play a role with the EUP-123E’s action touch, as well. The EUP-123E has all-wood action parts and solid spruce keys.
Like its sister brand, Boston, Essex grands and uprights have the distinction of having the benefit of Steinway & Sons’ nearly 170 years of innovation in creating their pianos.
With Essex, Steinway engineers had as their goal both an affordable line for the entry-level market yet also one that incorporated as much of the Steinway engineering as possible in a manufactured piano process.
As a result, for its price, Essex models, including the EUP-123E, surprise piano buyers by having a touch and a warm, mellow tone that is known around the world as “the Steinway sound.”
The result is a U-1 piano with a bright tone and a light action that may be decent for beginning piano students. However, its tone is limited for the more intermediate and advanced piano student. Such a student will need a piano with a more complex and subtle tonal range like the Essex EUP-123E provides.
To be clear, despite the fact that it gets brighter in tone with age, Yamaha’s U-1 is a good piano in several respects. It has become a popular model, such that Essex’s EUP-123E doesn’t always get the attention it deserves as the new kid on the block. Once you try the Essex EUP-123E, you may find that it is a worthy alternative to the Yamaha U-1.
The best way to determine which of these affordable, new uprights is for you is to play them for yourself. At M. Steinert & Sons, we encourage prospective customers to try other brands first at other piano companies and then compare ours to them with a visit to our showroom.
That is always the best way to find the piano that is best for you.
Meantime, read more about the Yamaha and Essex models in the articles linked below:
by Stephen N. Reed
When choosing a piano, you’re also choosing the piano store that sells it to you. For many years, M. Steinert & Sons has offered a Trade-Up policy that adds significant value to your purchase, allowing payments to be applied to a new piano later.
Most piano companies offer some kind of Trade-Up policy. But unless a company is sound and will be around later to honor their Trade-Up policy, your policy won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.
M. Steinert’s track record over 160 years makes our Trade-Up policy meaningful, as we are a piano company that will be around to help you convert your first piano payments to a second, better piano of greater value.
Having sold pianos from the Steinway Family of pianos for over 150 years, we know that piano needs can change for an individual customer or a family. Perhaps the ideal piano model is out of reach financially but could be obtainable in a few years?
We want you to secure–whether now or ultimately–the right piano for you. That’s what our Trade-Up policy is all about. This article will explain the two Trade-Up policies M. Steinert offers and when to use them.
This policy provides that any Steinway & Sons piano, new or used, acoustic or digital, purchased from M. Steinert & Sons receives 100% of the original purchase price for the life of the original purchaser towards any new, larger Steinway & Sons piano of greater value.
The piano must be in reasonable, age-appropriate condition. Original purchase price honored excludes taxes and delivery.
Example 1: You purchased a Steinway Model S in 2017 for $67,600 – get that amount towards a new Steinway & Sons Model B.
Example 2: You purchased a Boston upright, Model UP-118E EP 46″ for $13,900–you’ll get that amount if you later decide to buy a Steinway Model S baby grand at any point in your life.
Receive 100% of your purchase price as trade towards any piano bought from M. Steinert & Sons (including Boston, Essex, and Roland lines) of double value for up to 5 years.
Example: You purchased a Roland Digital piano for $4,000 on 12/1/2020, you will get that full amount towards any piano costing $8,000 or more until 12/1/25.
The reasons for Trading Up to a better piano are numerous. M. Steinert & Sons piano consultants give these examples:
Of course, a major factor as to the right time to use the Trade-Up Policy/Promise is when the time is right financially for you. However, part of that financial equation, especially for the other brands included in the M. Steinert & Sons’ Full Value Trade-Up Promise, is to not lose your initial piano investment by waiting after the five-year limit.
Trading up within 5 years is akin to trading up to a larger home when the housing market is at its highest. The larger home is made much more affordable by recovering the full value of the first home.
A new piano, purchased after the first one, will be far more obtainable with the help of that initial piano investment and without having to deal with the hassles of a private sale.
That is the real value of the M. Steinert Trade-Up Policy/Promise: a customer can be in a much more advantageous position towards obtaining the piano of their dreams, even as they purchase the right first piano for their needs right now.
As with all matters pertaining to a final decision towards purchasing a piano, a trip to the showroom to discuss any questions you have with one of our seasoned piano consultants can give you peace of mind. M. Steinert & Sons has based its reputation through customers who not only like their piano selection on the day of purchase but longterm in their home.
One of our piano consultants can answer any further questions you may have regarding the Trade-Up Policy/Promise or financing the piano that is right for you. Make an appointment today to begin that important, ongoing discussion.
Meantime, learn more about the financing options available by reading this article from our Expert Advice section of our website:
by Stephen N. Reed
The Boston line was specifically designed to enable more piano buyers to obtain a piano with Steinway design but at a price more affordable than a handcrafted Steinway.
Boston pianos, along with its sister brand, Essex, are the only manufacturer pianos that benefit from Steinway’s engineers incorporating as many of these Steinway-designed features as possible.
At M. Steinert & Sons, we’ve traced the progress of these two Steinway sister companies from the moment they rolled out in the 1990s. As the world’s oldest Steinway dealer, we have studied Steinway & Sons’ piano innovations for over 150 years. The trajectory of Boston since its inception three decades marks this as one of Steinway & Sons’ most significant decisions.
But are the Steinway-design qualities sufficiently replicated in Boston’s grand and upright models to satisfy the discerning piano customer? Further, has Steinway succeeded in finding a price point for its Boston models that is affordable for the ever-growing number of mid-market piano buyers?
At M. Steinert & Sons, we truly value helping customers find the piano that is just right for them. We want you satisfied, not just at the point of sale but after your chosen piano has been in your home for years.
As a result, we not only ask customers to come in and try Boston models for themselves but to examine the quality and cost involved.
By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of Boston models and their individual costs.
Boston’s cost is impacted by its Steinway-design elements. Particular materials (e.g. special woods) and the extra time spent in crafting a part of the design can add to the Boston’s cost but also its long-term value. Such Steinway-design elements include:
The Boston line includes five grand pianos and five upright models, along with Steinway’s Spirio self-playing piano.
As mentioned earlier, Steinway’s engineers had to determine how much of the handcrafted Steinway design could be transferred to a manufactured Boston. So, too, the prospective piano buyer needs to determine if the Steinway design is worth the cost of a new Boston
After all, though most Boston models are less than half of a new handcrafted Steinway, this would still be a significant purchase.
M. Steinert & Sons has been privileged to see literally thousands of satisfied Boston piano buyers in our stores over the years. However, only you can discern if the Boston has the value you need personally in your upcoming piano purchase.
Boston Upright models’ cost (costs can vary depending on the external finish chosen). Note: These prices reflect the latest May 2022 updates.
Boston Grand models’ cost
Today, we can learn an enormous amount of information about the products and services we are interested in thanks to the internet.
The great advantage for you in learning about the Boston in articles like this is that you come to a piano store armed with questions from your readings. This allows you to make the most of your showroom visit, which is essential to any piano purchase.
At M. Steinert & Sons, we look forward to helping all customers to find the best piano for them. We find that the process is more rewarding for those who have done a little homework, reading up on makes and models of the various pianos that strike a chord with them, no pun intended.
We would welcome the opportunity to field your questions about the Boston line of pianos and to let you try some Boston models. See for yourself if Steinway & Sons’ entry into the mid-market has succeeded with the creation of the Boston.
Whether you’re looking for a new upright or grand, we believe you’ll be impressed with the design, construction, and price of Steinway’s sister brand, Boston.
In the article below, read more about the Boston and how it compares with Steinway. You’ll learn more about the similarities and differences of both and how the Steinway-design elements in the Boston make it stand out from other manufactured pianos:
by Stephen N. Reed
Practicing the piano requires regular effort. However, if the player is a family member, a college student, or anyone else who shares their practicing area with other people, a natural conflict can arise between the player and others who can hear his or her playing. Even a well-played piece can be a distraction for those who need a quieter place to live, work, and sleep.
Remedies for this shared space conundrum have evolved. For example, in the 1980s, piano companies like Yamaha made their middle pedal a “soft pedal,” muffling the piano’s sound considerably. However, the resulting sound wasn’t that helpful for the serious piano student. What the “soft pedal” models gained in quietude they lost in clarity.
As a result, a solution was sought that allowed for a high-quality, acoustic piano that produced a rich sound yet only heard by the person playing. This way, the player could play anytime, night or day, as loudly as needed, without interfering with others in the same shared space.
If you have a situation where shared space with a piano player could be an issue, understanding top-quality silent piano systems is critical as you determine the best piano and silent system for you. The last thing you want is to invest in a silent system that doesn’t meet your needs.
Steinert & Sons has been in the business of helping people find the right piano for them since 1860. We have carefully followed the rise of piano enhancements like silent piano systems and can help you compare the better ones.
Naturally, we stand by the silent system we sell, PianoDisc QuietTime, but we appreciate other high-quality silent systems, as well, and are conversant regarding their capacities.
By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how silent systems work for the piano, how some of the better systems compare with one another, and their cost.
A silent piano, also known as a “silent system,” may sound like a whole new kind of instrument. However, it’s simply a standard acoustic piano with the ability to stop the piano’s hammers from striking the strings.
So how do you hear the notes being played if the hammers do not strike the strings?
Early silent system models detected key movement by using mechanical sensors that affected the touch and produced a clicking sound. But in more advanced, modern models, optical sensors are used that do not affect the feel or sound of the piano.
When the silent system is activated, digital sensors pick up the piano key movement. The key movement is then converted into a MIDI signal, which is then picked up by an electronic sound module. As a result, the piano player can hear their playing through headphones without distracting others.
Such modern silent systems can have full MIDI capability to send signals with the ability to link to a computer for use with notation software. The pianos also have full MIDI capability for sending signals and can be linked to a computer for use with notation software.
Kawai’s silent acoustic pianos are known as their “AnyTime Pianos” line, with a built-in silent system. They market the “AnyTime” name to denote that these pianos have a digital capacity that allows them to be played at any time without affecting others. They are available in a range of models.
One popular model is the Kawai K200-ATX3, which the company pitches as being user-friendly compared to other brands. It features a small, built-in screen on the left side of the keyboard that works similarly to a smartphone. The ATX3 features 27 voices to create the effect you wish, plus a large number of pre-set songs.
Cost of the Kawai K200-ATX3: $12,095
Yamaha’s SH2 and SC2 silent pianos offer a lesser number of voices and pre-set songs as Kawai’s ATX3. Instead of a built-in screen, Yamaha uses a separate interface–an iPad/iPhone or Android tablet. As with the aforementioned Kawai AnyTime models, a Yamaha silent piano has its silent system built-in.
These models have a particular standout feature: they offer binaural sound sampling for a fuller piano experience. Binaural audio mimics the natural human form to create a rich, stereo sound.
Cost of the Yamaha C2X SH2: $57,899.
Cost of the Yamaha B3SC2: $13,099.
Steinway went in another direction and does not make pianos with a built-in silent system. Instead, Steinway dealers like M. Steinert offer a silent system, the PianoDisc QuietTime is one such system, that can be installed in any piano of your choice–even one you already own.
As with the Yamaha and Kawai models, QuietTime connects the player to the digital world through USB or Bluetooth MIDI.
Beneath the keys, special optical sensors capture the motion of each key and translate this for playback by the digitized piano sound in the control box.
Once QuietTime is properly installed and adjusted by a trained piano technician, the keys will have the feel like a traditional, acoustic piano even when the mute feature is activated.
Cost of installing the QuietTime system on any pianos: $3,380.
Here at M. Steinert & Sons also experimenting with another silent system, the Kioshi Silent system – and will update in a future article about our experience with this new product.
If ever there was a piano buyer who should try some different models before purchase, it would be the buyer seeking a silent piano. After all, a silent piano has multiple constituencies to please.
On one hand, the piano player wants to make sure that they can still hear what they’re playing through the headphones. On the other hand, those in the same shared space with the piano player want to know that the silent feature is going to actually be quiet, so as not to distract their other activities.
Many buyers bring their whole family to test these key aspects of silent pianos, whether they are pianos with built-in systems or ones that can be installed after the piano is manufactured.
At M. Steinert, we encourage you to try other brands’ silent pianos and then come to us to learn more about the QuietTime system. We want you to get the best piano for you. This is best achieved after a buyer has a thorough process of comparing silent piano models and silent systems.
For more information, view these two videos that give more details as to how the QuietTime system works:
Steinert & Sons and the Quiet Time ProRecord
Steinert & Sons and the Quiet Time ProRecord (cont’d)
by Stephen N. Reed
A new piano, right out of the factory, has several advantages, one of which is the factory warranty that comes with the piano. This secures your multi-thousand dollar investment should your piano need a major repair, like fixing or replacing a soundboard or pin block.
Used pianos can be another story. Depending on their brand, age, or condition, a major repair is not as rare. With the exception of a piano store’s limited warranty, such major repairs come out of your pocket.
As a result, hiring your own piano technician to examine a used piano you are considering is a good idea. What could be worse than paying for a used piano, taking it home, and soon after facing the reality that your piano needs a major repair, costing thousands of dollars?
At M. Steinert & Sons, our motto for 160 years has been to help our customers find the best piano for them. Clearly, a piano that needs a major repair before you play it much is not the best piano for you. We have assisted many customers to learn about the cost of piano repairs and have helped them avoid major ones.
For example, M. Steinert & Sons has a Certified Piano Program to give used piano buyers peace of mind that their piano passes muster from an expert piano technician.
By the end of this article, you will better understand why soundboards and pinblocks are so important to a piano. Next, you’ll learn what is involved with major repairs to these and other key areas, particularly in Steinways, and the skilled work involved to fix them.
The Number One question to ask before embarking on a major piano repair is to determine WHO will do the work. There is no shortage of piano technicians who will eagerly take on a Steinway repair, charge considerably less than the numbers in the chart below, and potentially ruin or ‘delegitimize’ an otherwise fine piano.
References, credentials, and samples of past work are the best guides as to whether a technician can perform adequate restoration or repairs.
Please keep in mind that only Steinway & Sons can replace a Steinway soundboard or Hexagrip Pinblock. These are not installed by rebuilders or dealers. Dealers have the ability to send pianos to the factory for these installations but beware of rebuilders offering like-kind replacements.
| Item | Cost Range for Steinway |
| Steinway Soundboard Repair | $1,000 – $8,000 |
| Steinway Soundboard/Pinblock replacement | $11,000 – $22,000 |
| Steinway Replaced Pinblock, Soundboard, Bridge and Plate Refinish | $18,000 – $28,000 |
| New Steinway hammers | $7,000 – $8,800 |
| New Steinway wippens/& hammers | $12,000 – $14,000 |
| Steinway Restring | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Steinway Refinish – black | $16,000 – $30,000 |
| Steinway Refinishing– wood tone | $19,000 – $32,000 |
Helping you understand the costs of major repairs is all part of our job at M. Steinert & Sons. We want to be as transparent as possible as we openly address a subject that deserves attention.
Using Steinway’s patented “Diaphragmatic Soundboard” as an example, let’s understand how important a soundboard is to a grand piano.
Steinway & Sons engineers understood early on how the right kind of soundboard could make all the difference in a piano’s tone. The Steinway grand soundboard achieves optimum performance in dynamic range and maximum sustain.
Steinway uses Sitka Spruce for their soundboards, which is sourced entirely from an island in Alaska, the only location that meets Steinway’s stringent specifications.
This unique micro-climate provides this spruce with the highest quality grain density, direction, and color, thereby improving the transmission of tonal string vibrations.
The Steinway-designed soundboard is gradually tapered from the center to the edge, permitting freedom of movement and creating a sound of unparalleled richness, sonority, and sustain.
Steinway’s piano-rim machining center achieves a perfect fit between the soundboard and the rim. This provides the piano with a rich resonance, tonal color, and purity of sound.
Soundboard repairs can be quite involved and costly. According to M. Steinert & Sons piano technician Jonathan Kotulski, soundboard replacement is more common these days and a superior fix.
“Soundboards crack, so they are shimmed,” notes Jonathan. “This involves removing the plate and strings, digging out a groove in the soundboard, gluing and clamping a shim, and then planing/chiseling the shim down precisely flush with the soundboard.” (See above chart for cost estimate.)
Steinway introduced the Hexagrip Pinblock in 1963, a breakthrough that enabled pianos to hold their tuning longer and with great precision. This exclusive design provides the tuning pin with smoother movement under torque, a more uniform retaining action, and a piano that holds its tuning longer.
Steinway constructs its soundboard bridges from vertically laminated Hardrock Maple, and then caps it with a horizontal grain, solid maple. Each Steinway bridge is notched by hand for precise, individual string-bearing, another advantage to a handcrafted piano.
Steinway’s popular Model D and Model B have a single-piece bridge, a long, continuous bridge from the highest treble to the deepest bass. This design ensures optimal sound transmission from the strings to the soundboard.
Additionally, this design allows for the instantaneous transfer of the vibrations of the 233 strings throughout the bridge and the soundboard, adding more colors to the Steinway palette.
This wide range of colors to the piano’s tone is one of the main reasons professional pianists prefer playing a Steinway: they simply have more ways to express their experience of the music.
Pinblocks can loosen and need to be repaired or replaced. Minor repairs involve going up a pin size on problem pins, pin tapping, CA gluing or epoxying in the tuning pin to create higher torque.
Going up a tuning pin size on the entire piano and restringing the piano is becoming less common as a solution for pinblock problems.
“More often now, if you restring, it is recommended to replace the pinblock so you can start out with high torque on a 2/0 pin, the standard tuning pin size,” notes Jonathan. (See above chart for cost estimate.)
Veteran Steinway sales consultant Phil Schoonmaker maintains that one of the first questions buyers on the used piano market should ask themselves is, “Am I willing to give up a factory warranty?” Such warranties come with new pianos.
This is not to say that a partial warranty given by the seller for a used piano isn’t helpful for repairs. But a factory warranty on a new piano is more comprehensive. So if you can buy new, the factory warranty is a big advantage if a major repair comes.
For pianos in the Steinway Family, replacement parts and piano technicians who undergo regular Steinway training can only be found at an Authorized Steinway Dealer.
To learn more about Used vs. New pianos, read the following article:
New vs. Used Steinway: Which is the better value for me?
by Stephen N. Reed
The concert grand piano is considered the pinnacle of piano making and performance. But few know the different elements that come together to create this imposing musical presence, whether on a concert stage or in a home with a room large enough to accommodate it.
The last thing you want, and that we’d want you to do, is to buy a piano of this size and power without understanding all that you’re getting in such an instrument.
Steinert & Sons has been helping individual and institutional buyers with their concert grand purchases for over 160 years.
In fact, we’re an Authorized Steinway Dealer. We keep Model D Steinway concert grands constantly available for any Steinway Artist who comes into the Boston area.
Everything has to be perfect with these reserved concert grand pianos– to ensure they are performance-ready at all times for the visiting concert artist. As a result, we are intimately familiar with the upkeep and maintenance requirements of concert grands.
By the end of this article, you will understand some of the key aspects that make the concert grand special, from its size and cost to its power.
Concert grand pianos represent the pinnacle of piano making. Their sheer size and weight make them unique instruments, and the only ones professional concert pianists want to play. They are capable of enormous dynamic range.
Let’s take a look at how concert grands compare to other grand pianos in terms of their length and weight:
Typically, a new concert grand’s price ranges from $130,000 to $200,000, depending on the brand and finish, though some models can go higher. The most accurate prices are found by visiting an authorized dealer for a given brand.
How much do popular concert grand pianos cost?
The Yamaha CFX costs $185,799.
The Steinway Model D costs $198,400.
The Kawai SK-EX costs $197,595.
The Bosendorfer Imperial costs $250,000+.
Sound is the main difference in a concert piano. A concert grand has an abundance of power thanks to its size and hefty construction. It can fill a large concert hall with sound, usually without amplification. Such an instrument can easily be heard over a large orchestra.
Investing in a concert grand for the home makes sense if you are seeking the ultimate piano experience. The touch on a concert grand is unlike any other piano you will play due to its extra-long key design.
This additional key length affords the pianist an extraordinary amount of dynamic control when playing, from the softest pianissimo to the loudest fortes.
And as far as the tone goes, a concert grand is beyond compare, due to the extraordinarily large soundboard and long bass strings.
While it is true that 97% of concert pianists prefer Steinway, you needn’t be a professional pianist to appreciate the power, resonance, and sustain of a quality concert grand. It will truly bring your playing to a new level.
Individuals and institutions interested in buying a concert grand piano know that such an investment will require a step-by-step process to assure the right selection for them. Premium piano companies who make concert grands are ready to assist such buyers with a tried and true approach to finding the right piano.
For example, the Steinway Selection Process gives peace of mind to the institutions and individuals interested in participating in this structured, deliberative approach to piano buying.
The fact that Steinway instituted this process years ago illustrates how extraordinarily special concert grands are.
Once you are serious about buying a concert grand, you can try some Steinway Model Ds and other brands’ concert grands at their authorized dealers to make comparisons. This is a huge purchase and one to be taken with great care.
Then you can determine if the Steinway Selection Process is for you.
Take an inside look at one institution’s purchase of a concert grand for their university and how the Steinway Selection Process worked for them:
Fitchburg State pinpoints the right Steinway for their needs
by Stephen N. Reed (updated for 2023 pricing and pianos on 1/30/23)
Since John Isaac Hawkins built the first upright (i.e., vertical) piano in 1800, these pianos have been quite popular. Their smaller size has made them perfect for use in the home.
Uprights have often been seen as a good first piano, especially for beginners. Culturally speaking, they have helped introduce piano playing to millions of people, especially in America, where they became a fixture in many families’ parlors.
Like all musical instruments over the years, the cost of upright pianos has steadily increased, especially in the 2021-2023 period. You may wonder if they are still the most cost-effective way to enjoy an acoustic piano. The answer is yes unless an upright is at the end of its life cycle.
However, uprights come in many brands and models, new and used, and the savvy buyer will investigate the range of upright options in the current market.
Here at M. Steinert & Sons, we have listened well to our customers for over 160 years, allowing us to help them find the right piano for each of them. Uprights can be an excellent first piano for many in terms of price, size, and learning to play the piano.
By the end of this article, you will become familiar with several upright models across a range of prices. As a result, you’ll be better positioned to choose the upright piano that is best for you.
At the low end of the upright spectrum, one can expect to find many free pianos, which are generally worth what you pay for them. We examined this before in a previous column.
Occasionally, a used upright piano from a reputable brand may be found if the owner wants to expedite the sale of their piano. Craigslist and other sites like it might have the occasional deal in this range – but keep in mind moving costs and the potential for unknown issues.
Within this range, a recent and more lightly-used upright is possible in fair to good condition if from a reputable brand. The difference between these uprights and those in the $0-$1,000 range is the quality of the brands of the used pianos available.
Examples in this range, as advertised online*, include:
*Please note that used piano prices posted here and online are ballpark figures, not actual values. Those can only be estimated after review by a trained independent technician. Age and musical quality are critical factors in determining value.
We see better quality used uprights and even the beginning of some brands’ economy uprights in this price range.
However, for many buyers, the relatively low cost does not make up for the instability and poor tone quality frequently found in used pianos within this range. Stencil and economy pianos are manufactured to a single design.
Stencil and economy pianos tend to use lower-quality materials and easier-to-build designs. They are built to meet a price point rather than a quality standard.
Examples include:
Within this range, one’s options greatly expand when buying a good, production upright, whether new or used. The quality of new and used uprights in this price range is higher.
Buying new in this range allows for some significant benefits, including multi-year warranties and, for Steinway-designed models, a Trade-Up policy that allows all of one’s investment in a new upright to be applied later to a new Steinway if desired.
This range begins to allow for some used handcrafted pianos, like Steinway and Bosendorfer.
Examples include:
This range covers most quality new production brands and top-quality used models. For example, the Boston, Steinway’s top brand next to Steinway itself, has some new upright models within this range. Also, better quality used handcrafted pianos are available.
This is the range in which one’s quality options for a new upright piano really kick into high gear. The selection includes a wide variety of excellent new production pianos and a growing number of new handcrafted pianos.
Examples include:
Hopefully, the examples of used and new uprights above give you a better idea of what you can get within each price range. We want to offer one thought for your consideration on your buyer’s journey.
A poor or mediocre grand is not better than a fine-quality upright. Indeed, fine uprights are several times more costly than lower-quality grands. It is not merely the design that establishes the overall quality of a piano but the materials and workmanship. Only the best grands are better than the best uprights.
But if a grand piano isn’t an option right now, then getting the best possible quality upright is a fine choice, especially in terms of fitting the space available in one’s home and the space within your checkbook.
Ultimately, a good quality vertical piano will outperform and outlast a poorly made, inexpensive grand piano.
The best way to get a feel for the differences between upright models is to try some models yourself. We encourage you to go to other stores first to try their models. Then come to M. Steinert & Sons to look into the uprights in the Steinway family of pianos; Steinway, Boston, and Essex.
The upright models in all three brands possess the Steinway tone and many of the same materials. Boston and Essex are production uprights, while Steinway’s K-52 is handcrafted. Any payments on a new Boston and Essex can be applied to a later Steinway purchase, per Steinway’s lifetime Trade-Up policy.
For more information on New vs. Used pianos and how pianos age, click here.
How to move a piano: Professional piano movers are bestby Stephen N. Reed
Grand and upright pianos are large and heavy and never more so than when you need to move them to a new location. They can weigh everywhere from 300-800 lbs for an upright and 500-1,400 lbs for a grand.
This is more than your usual move of a heavy piece of furniture, and lifting one with a friend or two could result in a hernia or worse if the piano slips and falls from your hands.
Beyond your own safety, protecting your investment is critical. Hiring a professional mover, one with deep experience in piano moving, will help you to guard against injuring the inside and outside of your piano.
Thus, protecting your investment–and yourself–is paramount when deciding who should move your piano to a new location.
For over 160 years, M. Steinert & Sons has helped thousands of New England piano buyers not only to select the piano that suits their needs but to get them safely and properly installed in their homes, concert halls, and educational institutions.
We always work with the best movers we can find to help our customers to move in a new piano or move out an old one. This article will review the potential costs involved in faulty piano moves.
Additionally, we will illustrate the value of obtaining a professional piano mover, whether via online searches or recommendations from our staff at M. Steinert & Sons.
Moving a grand piano requires a special sequence of disassembly and reassembly. Eventually, all three legs of a grand piano will be removed, along with the lyre (pedal assembly) before the piano is placed on the moving board.
The sequence and timing of removing the legs is part of the critical skill set of a piano mover. Experience teaches just the right moments of interaction to prevent disaster to the piano, movers, and the household! Please do not consider moving a grand piano without experience.
While a good piano is a solidly built instrument, on the other hand, this is a delicately balanced wonder with thousands of parts. One bad slip while moving it could result in hundreds, even thousands of dollars of repairs. That’s much more than the cost of hiring a professional to move it for you.
Hiring professional movers who have negotiated staircases and other obstacles during piano moves gives you the assurance that your piano is in good hands. A professional piano moving company has the experience and the tools needed to help your piano arrive intact to its new home.
For a professional mover, moving a piano has a key variable: distance. A short move across one’s state will naturally cost considerably less ($400-$900 ) than a move to another region of the country ($1,500+).
At M. Steinert, we are glad to give you references to some of the finest piano movers in the greater Boston area that we have worked with over the years. We know these companies are reliable and professional, knowing how to protect pianos in transit.
Additionally, the internet can be a good resource for finding capable piano moving companies, as long as one takes time to read through their website and to read online customer reviews. Or simply ask friends you trust whom they hired for their piano move.
Be sure that the piano mover you choose has current insurance, showing you proof of it. Also, make sure that your homeowner’s insurance covers your piano during its move.
M. Steinert’s President emeritus Paul Murphy has seen some disasters over the years from those who decided to move their piano their own way. Paul recalls one upright piano being moved to Beacon Hill:
I once gave away an old upright that we had replaced with a new piano. I gave the upright (we called them bombers because they were so big and heavy) to a lovely young lady who had just moved to Boston.
The grateful recipient arranged her own move. She lived on Beacon Hill in a studio. Even though she was on the first floor, the piano couldn’t make the turn into her apartment which was a cut-up old brownstone.
So she had to get a crane to put the piano through the front window. Her movers on this job swung the piano through the window and dropped it hard. The sides fell off and the plate with strings and all fell out. The movers quickly picked up their gear and left this pile of piano in the middle of the room.
Because of stories like that one, we strongly encourage the hiring of professional piano movers to move even your upright piano. However, because it’s not as bulky as a grand, you might choose to move a vertical piano by yourself.
After your piano is in place in its new home, be sure to have it rest in an area that has low humidity and few changes in temperature. This can affect the tuning of the piano. Too much sunlight can damage the finish on the piano, as well.
Once in place, you’ll want to have the piano tuned as even a good move can result in some mild changes affecting the piano’s tuning.
Having a professional mover’s help will safeguard against more expenses than just tuning, potentially preventing thousands of dollars in damage to your musical investment.
Steinert & Sons has been serving New England piano buyers and owners since 1860. If you have any further questions about moving your piano, please contact us at our two area showrooms: Boston: (617) 426-1900 Newton: (508) 655-7373 Email: info@msteinert.com
Two Boston-area piano movers that we can recommend are Allston Piano Movers (Now a division of Gentle Giant) and PMI.
For further reading, enjoy these articles from our “Expert Advice” page on our website:
Spirio vs. Disklavierby Stephen N. Reed
updated September 20, 2022
Player pianos have a long and storied past, going back to the 19th Century. What started as a novelty became a best-selling musical instrument. Just as the smart TV is the home entertainment center today, the player piano was the center of the home at the turn of the 20th Century. This was the golden age of player pianos.
The player piano continued its roll until the phonograph and radio came along in the 1920s. Those two inventions essentially wiped out the player piano.
Two generations later, in the 1980s, player pianos made a comeback, utilizing cassette-based players, followed by floppy disks, CDs, and now wireless self-playing pianos.
Modern player pianos can both record and playback performances. Yamaha’s Disklavier has been doing that for many years. The more recent entrant, Steinway’s Spirio | r, features a high-performance quality playback AND record system.
Plus, both have content libraries that are digitized from early 20th Century recordings of famous composers and pianists. We’ll take a look at this technology, along with other key similarities and differences between the Disklavier and Spirio below.
As Yamaha and Steinway & Sons have emerged as the two piano companies that have put the most significant investments into creating the 21 Century player piano, a closer look at both is helpful to any buyer looking into one.
In 1982, the Yamaha Corporation introduced the first Disklavier self-playing piano in Japan. In 1987, the first Disklavier was sold in the United States, the MX 100A, a studio model upright. Shortly after that, the first Disklavier grand, known as the Wagon Grand ( “Wagon” came from the large rolling cart required to hold the hardware) was rolled out.
A third early model, known as the MX80 series, was created in the early 1990s. Like the prior models, the MX80 series recorded on floppy disks and recorded performances in a Yamaha-proprietary file format.
This was a forerunner of the subsequent industry-standard file format known as Standard MIDI Files. Technical innovations found on these early model instruments included hammer sensors for recording, recording and playback of incremental pedal data on the Wagon Grand, and moving pedals during playback.
Since then, Disklavier has gone through many changes, including those in the chart below.
Spirio was a new direction for Steinway, which had staked its claim on the meticulous, handcrafted quality of its pianos, their unique tone and touch, and their preference among the vast majority of professional concert pianists.
Could a company steeped in high musical performance also develop a self-playing piano designed more for home entertainment?
Since introducing the standard Spirio Play model in 2015, Steinway has risen to the challenge, making sure that each part of Spirio was up to Steinway’s historic standards of quality. For example, a recording option was not originally available in Steinway Spirio pianos.
However, after significant research and development, in 2019 Steinway introduced the Spirio | r, which is capable of both reproducing and recording high performance piano music for later playback.
Similarly, while Disklavier has already implemented Remote Performance Technology, which grew in popularity for distance learning and remote performances during the pandemic, Steinway’s engineers the latest high-resolution Spirio | r recording technology in November 2021.
In the end, whichever one’s preference between the Disklavier and the Spirio, no one can question the financial and philosophical commitment of Steinway in their pursuit of creating the best 21st Century self-playing piano.
| Item | Yamaha Disklavier | Steinway Spirio |
| Approach to Player Piano Design | Yamaha C series | Steinway & Sons historical designs – adapted for the Spirio integration. |
| Year Introduced | 1987 | 2015 |
| High Resolution | PRO models only | Yes |
| User Experience | Many complicated features–not easy | Easy |
| Separation of Core Player System From Rapidly-Changing User Interface | Average | Excellent |
| Soft Play and Repetition | Above average | Excellent |
| Proportional pedaling | Yes | Yes |
| Operates keyshift | Yes | Yes |
| Remote Performance Technology | Yes | SpirioCast – Released in November 2021 |
| Immunity to Line Voltage Variation | Above average | Excellent |
| Supports Recording | Standard, digital recording on all but low-end models | Spirio | r included the highest performance recording possible |
| Included Music | 500 of 11,000+ pieces given at installation. More songs available at additional cost. Also, Disklavier Radio. | Complete 4,482 piece library given at installation. 3-4 hours of new music added free per month. |
| Proprietary Music Catalogue | Disklavier E3 Artists. Live video events available. | Steinway Artists. Spiriocast library growing |
| Quality of underlying instrument | Yamaha–manufactured in a production environment. | Steinway–handcrafted with over 100 craftspeople involved. Steinway tone and touch. |
| Cost | Ranges from $28,899–$225,000 | Ranges from $113,700–$243,400 |
Over the years, Disklavier models have utilized a range of devices that were used to operate the piano. These included a control box mounted on the piano, infrared handheld and Wi-Fi controllers.
A variety of devices have been used to control the instrument, including buttons on a control box mounted on the piano, a Java app running via a personal computer, and other apps that run on IOS-based devices.
All Disklaviers have an option for remote control. In most cases, this has been a line-of-sight remote that uses infrared signals (much like a typical TV remote).
Disklavier PRO models have a detached interface. Disklaviers are equipped with non-contact optical sensors but also incorporate continuous grayscale shutters on the hammers to measure their speed and distance.
The addition of continuous grayscale shutters for each hammer allows the user to natively record and playback high-resolution performances with 1023 levels of key and hammer velocity as well as 256 increments of positional pedaling using Yamaha’s proprietary XP format.
Spirio has 1020 levels of key and hammer velocity, along with 256 increments of positional pedaling. The Spirio system is operated through the Steinway Spirio App, which provides a seamless interface to the piano and is both intuitive and easy to use.
Whereas Yamaha’s Disklavier system relies on MIDI data, low resolution data files, Spirio is recording at the highest resolution possible. Steinway has created a proprietary data file format that captures the nuances and full range of emotion from each artist’s level of performance, resulting in a heightened level of playback.
The Spirio’s nuanced playback comes from a combination of both the proprietary data file format, along with the Spirio’s ability to replicate smaller increments of velocity on both the hammers and proportional pedaling.
This recent technology captures a range of subtlety and nuance that, before now, has not been possible.
The advent of a detachable interface, one everyone can learn to use in an hour on a familiar iPad or equivalent has made the 21st Century self-playing piano extraordinarily popular.
Someone with very little experience with technology can suddenly entertain dinner guests like a tech pro, simply by accessing a selection of songs from the proprietary music catalogs provided by Yamaha and Steinway.
Having said that, the Spirio may have benefitted from getting in later than the Disklavier, as the Spirio has a reputation for having technology that is easier to use. The Disklavier can take up to four steps to access the piano’s technology, while Spirio often only requires one step.
Today’s piano buyer is still buying for the sound experience; they don’t look forward to complicated, multi-step ordeals. On the question of ease of use, Spirio wins hands down.
The Disklavier has Remote Performance Technology, and Spirio rolled out its version in November 2021. During the pandemic, this technology became better known and quite popular for its distance-learning capacities.
For example, a famous musician, college professor, or high school instructor could offer a masterclass to students located remotely.
The Disklavier features a silent play option, which means that a player can practice silently.
The playback on the Disklavier and the Spirio both have high levels of reproduction. Both also have MIDI-editing software. This allows one to record without rerecording the entire piece.
Spirio | r has an iOS app to edit high-definition recordings. Yamaha does not provide software to edit Disklavier Pro recordings.
Both Yamaha and Steinway offer sweeteners to their piano purchases through their respective Proprietary Music Catalogues. Steinway knew that Yamaha had the jump on them, having unveiled the Disclavier a decade earlier.
Since rolling out Spirio in 2015, Steinway has outpaced Yamaha in the number of high-performance recordings available to their customers. At their current rate, Steinway’s number of recorded songs should overtake Yamaha’s in five years.
Notably, Steinway gives all of their Steinway Artist songs–now over 4,450 tracks–as part of their piano sale at no additional charge.
Yamaha has always taken a different approach to its music catalog. First, they have roughly 11,000 songs in their catalog, and their system can handle vocals and background music, not piano music alone.
However, Yamaha usually provides a number of free songs away at the close of sale; their customers have to purchase any others afterward, at an additional cost per song or album. Also, if Disklavier’s music catalog sounds a bit dated, it is: their prime years for new recordings were in the 1990s and early 2000s, most of which is not recorded in high resolution.
In contrast, the Spirio musical catalog contains not only vintage classical and jazz recordings but many new recordings by contemporary piano artists.
Both Yamaha and Steinway & Sons deserve great credit for developing the self-playing piano as a 21st Century combination of an acoustic piano/home entertainment center.
Both companies have invested millions of dollars in design, cutting-edge technology, and marketing to restore the piano to the center of hundreds of thousands of homes worldwide.
As just one indicator of Spirio’s rise in popularity, over a third of all new Steinways sold today are Spirios.
While there is no question that the evolution of the Disklavier plowed the ground for any self-playing pianos to follow, Steinway & Sons has invigorated the self-playing piano market with a more usable interface, more recent activity on Music Library production, and the highest resolution of playback yet created for this kind of piano.
On the other hand, the Disklavier has earned applause lately for its performance during the pandemic as a Remote Performance Technology, which allows for remote performances, master classes, and other forms of remote learning.
With the addition of Spiriocast in 2021, Steinway & Sons is now pioneering a Steinway-caliber roster of ‘live’ performances.
Competition is good for piano buyers as well as for Yamaha and Steinway. As each company strives to make their self-playing instruments even more sophisticated, both will be kept on their toes and will show prospective buyers their updated versions of the 21st Century player piano.
In the end, despite other technological differences, the choice may simply come down to whether the buyer wants a manufactured Yamaha or a handcrafted Steinway for their 21 Century player piano.
We have taken a deeper look into the differences between the Yamaha Disklavier and Steinway Spirio in this article and hope that it helps you to choose the best 21st Century self-playing piano for you.
But an instrument this technologically advanced needs to be seen and heard up close and personal. Towards that end, we hope you will fill out the form below to make an in-store appointment with our informed and helpful M. Steinert & Sons staff. They are available at either of our two locations in Boston and Newton, MA.
For further reading, please see these additional articles on the Steinway Spirio.
Could the Spirio ever become obsolete?
How much does a Steinway Spirio cost?
Spirio Pianos at M. Steinert & Sons
