Last night, myself and a few others were really surprised by a Gerh Steinberg vertical. This particular piano had been tuned with the Coleman 11 temperament (actually tuned by Mr. Coleman, himself), and a few of us got to play it. For an upright piano at that price and level, it had a lot of tone and a very smooth action. I was playing the cadenza from the Grieg, and some experienced technicians came back into the room and said, "We couldn't believe that sound was coming out of THAT piano." Honestly, I couldn't either.

I must admit I didn't know anything about these pianos until yesterday, but I'd certainly put it on the comparison list if I was shopping for a vertical.

I saw Gerh. Steinberg at a dealer in the LA area. They are built at Yantai Longfeng alongside Perzina, but seem to be priced lower. They did not stand out to me, but they didn't seem deficient either.

A lot of the low-end Chinese pianos sound and play at a level well beyond people's expectations when they receive some TLC between the crate and the showroom. Lots of tone possibilities to choose from too. There is no characteristic Chinese piano sound; rather,lots of possibilities depending on your taste.