Just curious what you experienced players would choose as an entry level upright piano if you were to buy one today. Please elaborate on why. Maybe you like the feel of the keys, overall sound etc.

What price range mate?

Err, I don't know... I guess we could make a cap of $7000 US. :-)

The largest piano that money could buy in good condition. You can get a smaller grand brand new for that, or lightly used. Still you have to love the sound and feel or it's a waste.

for me if I prefer the tone and touch from brand A over B, i would take the smaller piano from A over B if A is more expensive.

I guess people are missing the question. It's not about me, it's about what YOU would buy and why. So in hindsight, if you had your current knowledge and could buy a beginner upright and do it over again which make/model would YOU buy as YOUR beginner piano?

Given the same money, the one I bought. I looked a long time, found a dealer with a piano he wanted to be rid of (that I liked) and feel like I got good value for my money.

I'd buy the same piano that I just bought a little over a week ago, a Yamaha U3. I don't know if it's considered an entry-level upright as it's a professional level instrument, but it's in your price range if you go to the used market. A new one from a dealer will run upwards of $10K, but you can find plenty of used and/or restored examples for under $5K, as I did. At 52", it's a fairly large upright, also, so you have to be looking for that.

The piano sounds lovely, and has very nice action. It is a very loud piano, being so large, and has a wonderfully resonant sounding board. Being loud, it also has a very nice practice pedal feature. All you do is push the middle pedal down and to the left, and a strip of felt is lowered between the hammers and strings, thereby reducing the pianos volume by more than half. Great for doing finger exercises and scales without driving everyone else in the place crazy!

I'm not a beginner, but this is the first real piano (i.e. not a synthesizer) that I've bought, and I'm very pleased with it.

I am currently sold to C.Bechstein 124, August Forster 126. But they are over budget, so I may consider Bechstein Academy A112, AF 116 (still over budget) instead.
Followed by Schimmel Konzert K122, and Vogel V115 (which is much cheaper)
And looking forward to try out the Frederick Grotrian 111 (the recording sounds amazing).

if I lower my budget even ore, then defintely Kawai K3 (over Yamaha U1,Knabe,and Baldwin (chinese series)).

Since you specified an entry level upright, I would choose the Cunningham Studio-50.

Well I have a Yamaha C109 and I've just put a deposit on a Steinway made entry level Essex EUP-123S, awesome sounding and great feel. Buying that for 6k.

Beat me to it! I was just going to post that the Essex 123 is a fabulous piano. I just played two examples at a dealer. If I did not already have a great piano, I would have bought one on the spot. I actually liked it more than many of the grands I have played.

I`m not that experienced, but the smaller cheaper Balwin uprights looked great wi that American Bar room styling, and sounded as good without being too loud. I`m talking about the 80`s here, mind. Things might have changed . . .

Probably the same Kawai K-2 I purchased a few years a go. It had a nice touch and tone and was fun to play and learn on indeed.

...Wondering if Rod V. will sell me a new Walter for $7,000.... ; )

I am not familiar with all the many different entry-level uprights, but there are a lot of good ones out there.

Thanks everyone! I was curious to see how varied the opinions would be. They are pretty much all different. It just goes to show how much everyones taste varies.