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So here's a video of my space. I had someone hold up two panels together (making it 4" thick) about a foot and a half from the open lid and it helped with the low-mid end tremendously. I'm still getting piercing highs tho

Any suggestions now that you can all see the space? Thanks again and Happy New Year!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hLNncQlso&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Have you tried setting the piano parallel to the window wall as Sophial suggested? You might get better results with a straight shot towards the dining room.

Uh...Gee, do you think that the new carpets will have any kind of effect on the room acoustics?

Wow...a Steinway B for your first piano along with a new house...boy oh boy, you must be livin' right. Congratulations.

The new carpets are going in on the second floor. The cherry laminate is staying put on the lower level.

Marty & Sophia,

It originally started out as you suggested but the sound was really overwhelming. That being said, the room was completely bare at the time. I suppose I could try it again tho I have to admit I like how it looks in this position. Still, looks are obviously secondary to acoustics. I do have fiber panels in the order behind the tail if that counts for anything?

Most every thing you do on the inside of the home and immediate area, will have an effect on the sound of the piano. I would think, complete the home furnishing phase and then see what you have. Drapes, floor coverings and furniture will all have an impact.

Can you turn it so that it opens toward the room? Leave at least a foot between the piano and the wall, and try to get it away from the corner of the room.

For the treble, try getting someone to move a mirror around on the walls until you can see the sound-producing parts of the piano from the bench, and hang a panel there. As for the muddy bass, it might just be solved from getting out of the corner. If not, maybe look into bass trap building and positioning.

Hi Markarian,

I think this is also really important. Maybe get the carpet in, change the position of the piano in the room ( I still think it is likely better out of that corner and opening up to the room once you have other things in there and not just a bare room), arrange the furniture and then think about how to position the acoustic panels last. Good luck and congrats on a great piano!

Sophia

At a certain point it may become more effective to change the piano for the room.

See if the piano store would be able to extend the courtesy of a free voicing session so that the piano will sound good in your home. It's worth asking.

In your area I have corresponded with 2 technicians that seem to have a deep understanding of piano timbre.
Ed McMorrow and David Love.

I would recommend before voicing the hammers that they raise the hammer line 3mm using the Capitan screw.
This will lower the volume of your piano without changing its sound. Sort of like lowering the volume on your car stereo.
A side effect would be a much lighter action which may or may not be a good thing.
The plus side of raising the hammer line is that it is completely reversible and only takes maybe half an hour.

Needling the hammers if done too much, which it seems very easy to overdue with my experience with techs would kill the brilliant sound of the treble.

Noam

Actually I wouldn't suggest setting it exactly parallel to the window wall as that might create its own problems. I think a bit of an angle to any wall, opening up to the room and the tail out of the corner might help.

Sophia

I strongly agree.

It's paramount to set up the piano FIRST by a competent technician BEFORE working on room acoustics.

Right now and from what I could hear, the sound is "locked in" and needs to be brought out.

At same time, a great tech knows 'how to' optimize sound within a given setting, another important aspect.

In the end and only in the end, acoustic panels, carpets and other devices may be useful.

Amazing changes can often be accomplished by simply turning piano or changing it's location within a given space, lid position etc.

In case like that I would make it mandatory to attend at customer's home and help him/her personally with some ideas.

We just did - involving a $ 6000 upright...

Norbert

One caution on raising hammer line to reduce volume.

When you reduce hammer blow distance you increase aftertouch. With excessive aftertouch the jack will reach the limits of travel within the repetition lever window. This will result in jacks breaking because at full dip the jack is then stopped at both ends, which starts to bend it and eventually breaks it.

Hahaha. Thanks Ed. That's good info I did not know, and that's why I didn't send him a private message on how to do it himself.

I'm sure a professional with your knowledge (am not being sarcastic) can find a happy medium and raise the hammers a bit while not compromising the other aspects of the action.

I'm sure there is some level which a tech can adjust the hammer line and not harming the jack. Just don't discount it as one of the opition. Maybe up 1mm and a bit of voicing, but he liked the way the piano sounded at the showroom, so I'm trying to think of ways to lower volume.

Be careful of those needles going into your hammers. I had a bechstein 4 years ago that sounded great at the showroom, but in my live apartment it hurt my ears badly.
A tech came and needled the treble section and killed the sound of the piano, it died!

Personally as a piano player I like more aftertouch.

There is an old phrase about putting the cart before the horse. Isn't the best approach to finish furnishing the house, listen to the piano, and then take remedial action if necessary?

True, but 2 acoustic panels do as much as a large sofa. So unless he is going to put 10 more sofas in his living room, I think we are getting the idea that the room is not really working out, meanwhile, this guy is, rightfully, having a heart attack!!!

Get a tech in there that really knows what they are doing, and is really wanting to make sure you are happy, and they can make that piano sound fantastic in that room. I'm certain.

If this was an apartment and the OP was only going to be there for a year or two I would say keep focusing on room acoustics. But as I understand, it's a home he purchased, so now he is not only having second thoughts about the piano, but also about his home. I'm imagining...

I'm sure he is getting private messages from techs who want to really take this on as a mission to help.

I agree with Marty completely. I think it's largely a waste of time to be obsessing over room acoustic treatment and discussing piano revoicing before the furnishings are in.

That said, I'm willing to wager that putting the tail into the corner as it is in the video is not going to turn out to be the best sound. If it were my room, I'd try putting the straight side along the window wall to the piano's left so that it opens toward the dining room (as I believe others have proposed). I'm hoping as I type this that perhaps, with any luck at all, that window faces north so that there is not a direct sunlight issue.

Larry.

First of all, you're all amazing. I'm truly grateful that this much collective kindness and knowledge are coming together to help me get my piano sounding great. Last night I doubled up on three panels and arranged them on chairs as I saw in this pic:

http://www.readyacoustics.com/images/large/54.jpg

Immediately I noticed a huge difference and the lower-mids started to come out of the mess, as well as the bass! I also installed some drapes finally and the room sounds much better. Then I did something very basic--I took out the music desk. Immediately, it was listening to a whole other instrument. Things sounded clearer, more even. For the first time, I just played for an hour straight and really enjoyed myself. Octave six, the higher notes, are still shrill and piercing, especially A6-C7. So somewhere in the 1700-2000Hz range is just really hot, but it's coming from the piano itself. Cocking my ear, I don't hear it ringing across the walls, which are mostly covered at this point with either blankets or panels. The room sounds very pleasant, no longer echoey when talking or singing, but not completely dead either.

There's something really important that I think I've been overlooking in this process, everyone. As I mentioned way back, this is my first instrument and I am self-taught. I spent the last 22 years playing keyboards and digital pianos--good ones, to be sure, but not the real thing. I read on another thread here that players going from digital to a real instrument play at "an unrelenting forte." I keep having to remind myself that this instrument just does what I want it to do with MUCH less force. When I calm the heck down, the instrument starts to sing again. I'm realizing that, being self-taught, I don't know proper posture, fingering, exercises, technique--anything. I'm not classically trained and I don't read music. Half of the terms being thrown around on this board mystify me. Now I have a real instrument, a magnificent, towering instrument that is quiet as a whisper and deafening as thunder. It's strange to have more than 128 levels of velocity! On a digital, even though the higher keys are weighted, I don't think the velocity curve is different like it is on a real piano. It takes such a light touch to play the notes on a real grand, I've found. I feel like I've traded in the keys to a Toyota Camry with an automatic transmission to a Bugatti Veyron with a seven-speed manual.

The point is, I can't even trust myself to know if this thing is voiced right and sounds right because I am a pianist in a very unusual situation. When the techs (yes, plural) come out, I will get their opinion. One is re-rubbing the case and the other is the actual Steinway tech for the local symphony and ballet. I really don't want to do anything to change the tone of the instrument to wrap it around my stunted playing technique. I plan to be recording with this instrument (similar to the pic above) and I want it to sound incredible, despite what I hear behind the keyboard. That being said, I feel like I finally got to a good point last night, though I know it can get better. On Sunday a dining room table and chairs go in, the latter being heavily upholstered.

Thank you all so much again. I plan to study with a teacher so I can fill in the gaps that I wasn't able to teach myself.

You should trust yourself a bit more after all, you are the one to be playing this beautiful piano and enjoying it so don't let anyone tell you what sound it should have.

Sometimes, for some reason my piano seems a bit louder than other days. It has to do something with hearing fatigue. Those days, I put my directional microphones 2 feet from the piano and put the digital recorder on "Monitoring" mode. I use headphones that go in the ear, and another set of unplugged over the ear headphones to really silence exterior noise. Then you can turn the sound to a desirable level and you will once again hear the piano you fell in love with.

We all really want you to be happy. It's a frustrating situation but as long as you keep trying, things will get better and better. Keep adding to the room obviously and maybe have a friend play the piano while you listen.

Some times the piano bench is the worst place to listen to the piano. Maybe the sound in the room is getting much better than you think. But again, since you are the one playing and listening, I would make it a goal to get the best sound from the bench

I am way too late to the party but just in case here is how mine looks. Basically 3 acoustic Panels from GIK acoustics (they got many alternatives to fit your preferences) and some foamy stuff from amazon..cheap and I like the look.
And yes, my poor plant is not liking the Winter weather at all..I hope it survives.