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The tech story / different piano story sounds very much like a load of #%$&.

I agree they need to properly prep it. If you are blown off by the dealer you will be out $1000 to have it properly prepped.

All Yamaha GC2s are consistent and can be made to sound about the same so you do not have to worry about that.

What state is this dealer in? If you visit the shop 2 months later and that same "sold" piano is sitting in the showroom my shady theory will be confirmed.

When I purchased the piano they said that they needed 2 days to do the prep. Because of the issue I had with the U3 they wanted to make sure the piano was properly prepped, that was on a Friday. Monday of the following week I got a call that the two techs they have in-house were both on vacation and they didn't have anyone to prep the piano. The salesman said they were working on getting someone local to prep the piano so I didn't have to wait another week for delivery. They gave me the name of a local tech, who I have meet and did try twice to fix the U3, and said he would prep the piano. I don't know for sure that he did or who did but it arrived on the specified day.

I found a post from March from a guy who bought a new piano and had the same muffled sound when sitting at the keyboard, just like mine. It was suggested to him to move the music desk all the way back instead of closet to the keyboard. Mine is currently closest to the keyboard. This seemed to have worked for him so when I get home I'm going to try this. I haven't yet tried putting a rug under it but I have one I can try as well.

If these two things don't show improvement then I can proceed with insisting they re-prep the piano. Thanks for your advice.

Rotom, The egg crates would diffuse but not absorb sound. By themselves it might serve some purposes but for me I would add foam into the mix for energy absorption.

Did you actually buld these yourself? My wife would never let me put that up in the piano room

Yes, gnuboi, I have a big sheet of these hanging up in my piano room. Works well enough for me. They DO look nice.

Last night I moved the music desk all the way back and put a rug under the piano. I think it sounded better so I added a folded blanket as well. The pile on the rug is very short so now I'm going to get a nice rug with a longer pile that covers more of the floor under the piano. The egg crate on the wall idea did not go over very well at home when I mentioned it. Hopefully a better rug will do the trick. Thanks everyone for your advice.

If this is improving the tone then perhaps what you had wasn't insufficient volume but too much reflective surfaces and standing waves.

You could addddrapes, rugs, upholstered furniture, book cases, books... there are also nicer-looking acoustic panels for absorption/diffusion for walls and ceilings.

The piano is muffled no more. I read in Larry Fine's book about placement of the piano in the room. I had the tail in a corner and the right hand wall had an opening so the sound was going more into the other room. I rotated the piano slightly so the long side is againist the wall and the piano opens into the living room. This minor placement change allows me to hear the piano clearly and more loudly than before. The sound has really improved and I can hear the bass notes where before I couldn't appreciate the tone as I can now. Leasson learned is small changes can make a big difference.

Funny how in all the discussion about dealer prep and delivering a different piano the subject of room placement didn't really come up even though you mentioned the differences between the store acoustics and your house in the original post. I'm very glad your piano ills have been cured. Now you can enjoy practicing. Go to it!