Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Almost ready to get a Steinway upright

Great uprights, one and all. But if you have the money and the space, a good quality grand will afford you more playing pleasure.

If you have your heart set on an upright, you could certainly do worse than a "K"! But I'd look around before making the plunge. Lots of great uprights out there in that price range. I like the M and H, and the Seilers quite a bit. And if you want to save a chunk of change, the Bohemias are quite nice!

To paraphrase Larry Fine:

High-end uprights have a very limited market. They are for those with almost unlimited funds, but with very limited space, a relatively rare situation.

I own a very nice vertical that is built well and plays well (Charles Walter). Space was an issue for me. But my piano was between $5 and $6 thousand.

If I were shopping in the $20 thousand plus range, I'd have found a way to fit a grand. There are lots of very nice instruments to choose from in that price range.

Always,
Nice to meet you over at Scott's. Yes, I have to admit it's hard to get over the piano shopping bug after shopping for two years!
I just had to look at his new Bosie and the Rosewood Bluthner while I was "in the area".
You have received some great advice here .... glad to see you looking at the grand option again. If you can make it work in your room you will never regret it. We love ours more and more every day as it has filled our home with joy!

I'm very grateful for all the information from folks on this forum.

Recent update, I've revisited the space issue and am also looking at squeezing in a smaller grand. I've looked at the Estonia and a smaller Petrof and liked them both. Even for a novice like me, the difference in touch between the grands and the uprights is noticable.

Any other smaller grand contenders I should look at in the $20K range?

Jay - nice to meet you too and thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad you like your Estonia.

Schimmel and Vogel are two.

I'd check out an RX1 (5'4")and RX2(5'10"). The actions in these pianos are very nice, and the tone is quite pleasing! Bohemia makes some nice grands, too, but I don't know about price ranges for them.

When you try the pianos out, suggest to the store owners that you are serious and that you'd like to hear what the pianos sound like in a well-tuned state. Hearing one tuned and another not tuned will make a big difference in your perception of the instrument.

Agreed ... prep can make a world of difference.

The best of the small grands is certainly the Steingraeber 168. Most grands of this size aren't that terrific, but the Steingraeber is. Check it out!

If you are willing to drop 20k plus for an upright IMO S&S K-52 is one of the worse choices.

I will seriously consider a Steigraeber or a Seiler 132 SMR.

These pianos WILL blow away any S&S upright or a model S.... baby grand.
In terms of looks they also beautiful and by far more refine than Steinway.

I played on the

K132 (Hammburg) !!
Bosie 130CL
Bechstein concert8
Grotrian 130
Yamaha U5 or SU

And the best in touch and tone was K132 !!
Even the V125 (Hamburg) was excellent , the touch of Steinway pianos is far better than any other pianos!Even Grand yamaha!!!

For verticals, if you are concerned about cabinet, the Schulze Pollmann 130 is wonderful. Gorgeous woodwork and a realy nice full sound-- for about half of your budget! Also, if you can locate a Seiler vertical - well worth trying. Will be less than your budget as well, and a beautiful sound. They also are known for fine cabinetry. Good luck!

Schulze Pollmann AND Steinbergs have nice cabinets as well as being a very acceptable vertical.

I have not yet seen a Seiler.

Roberta