Great story. You must have been the talk of every airport you went through. :) Quite a trip.
Doubt I'll find the Benjamin Britten LP in my collection but you never know. I still have my father in law's collection to look through. I gleaned the important stuff on first glance "The Crepitation Contest", can be enjoyed on even the most modest of systems. :) He actually had a fair amount of mostly classical, maybe 200-300 or so. Still boxed up from moving to Missouri 12 years ago.
I've taken notice of KEF Reference speakers as they have about the same range as my AR9's. Being newer, they are likely to do it better but I don't know. I did a search to find full range speakers that matched or exceeded the original Teledyne AR9's. It's a small crowd and the prices usually range from slightly above 10k to 300k. Out of my league. KEF 107 and R107's can be had (used) for less than 2k. They might be a consideration if I ever decide to move from the AR's. They are now on my radar. There is a pair on ebay right now that I would have to think about if I hadn't already spent so much in the last month or two............and I'd like my wife to stay. :)
I have to research this exotic piano. 108 keys? I've never heard of such a thing. Not doubting you, I'm just surprised to hear of such a thing. I had a square grand that only had 66 keys. It was very ornate but sonically not so good. I used to sit across from a Steinway concert grand every Sunday when I was a kid. My dad played the pipe organ and a woman played the Steinway. They were both very good and I'll never forget the sound of either.
I also lived in my grandfather's farmhouse with my wife after we were first married, mid 70's. He had a self contained pipe organ in the house, also an upright piano that he hand built. I didn't play well but played some. I wish I'd taken it more seriously when I was a kid. Hated piano lessons because of the childish crap we had to play. I wanted to play classical music. Too short sighted to learn the basics.