While few would deny that Steinway is among the best pianos in the world, there are perhaps some that would claim that Steinway's preeminance as the the piano used in the overwhelming number of concerts by professionals is not due to their overwhelming superiority as an instrument, but because of all the benefits in being a Steinway artist- availability and choice of pianos, technical support, costs (or lack of them), etc. If all the piano manufacturers could offer the exact same benefits, what percentage of SOLO recitals do you think would be on Steinways and what other pianos would be their main competition? I phrased my question in terms of solo recitals because my impression is that some pianists might choose a Steinway when playing a concerto because it may have greater carrying power over an orchestra. I think that it would be useful to all readers to identify yourself in your reply as a piano dealer (and which makes you sell), professional pianist, Steinway artist, technician, etc. if you fall in one of those categories. I myself am simply an interested amateur.

I too am am merely an interested amature.. and i agree from personal opinion that steinway makes excellent instruments.. but i too find it hard to believe that they are so much better than other pianos out there to account for the percentages of concert pianist that use them.... i would imagine though that if a very fmouse pianist chose to use aonther brand.. say bosendorfer for example, that bosendorfer would give them many benefits like choice of piano etc...... so i really dont know.... but i do think that there are many excellent pianos out there with different if not better sounds than steinway... ex. fazioli, bosendorfer, bechstein, etc.... they all have qualities that the other lack, in the end it comes down to personal opinion.