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What are the best loudspeakers under $4000 to re-create lifelike piano

Over the past 4 months I've spent time with five loudspeakers.  On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate them as follows in their ability (with my equipment in my room) to recreate a lifelike piano.  Tekton Lore - 6.5 (great scale but tonal accuracy and clarity somewhat lacking),    Kef LS50 - 7.0 (moderate scale but slightly better clarity and tonal accuracy)  Kef R500 - 8.0  (great scale and very good clarity and tonal accuracy), Spatial Audio M3TurboS -8.1 (great scale and very good clarity and tonal accuracy and very smooth)  Magnepan 1.7i - 9.0 (very good scale with excellent clarity and tonal accuracy - very lifelike).

In your room with your equipment, what loudspeakers are you listening too and how would you rate them for their ability to recreate a lifelife piano and if possible a few comments as to why?
snapsc
rcprince
3,078 posts
 
A used pair of Duntech Princesses or Dunlavy SC-IVs (or, if you can knock the price down a little, Duntech Sovereigns or Dunlavy SC-Vs).  Not the last word in transparency, but these speakers get the timbre and frequency response right (including the lower registers) and, with the right amplification, can get a lot of the dynamics too.  Also can give you a sense of the size and scale of the instrument.  Terrific on all genres of music as well.  Still among my favorite speakers after all these years.
snapsc OP
685 posts
 
Do the impact monitors go low enough without a sub to capture the piano size and scale?  How are they for tonality and clarity?
mgattmch
576 posts
 
I have been an audiophile for 50 years, during this time I have never heard speakers that can faithfully reproduce the sound of a live grand piano. I have heard some pretty impressive systems (read very expensive, $0.5 million and more) during this time, I can honestly say none faithfully reproduced the sound of live piano. OK, some came close; Magico Q7, Wilson Alexandria etc.

Hope I don’t sound too cynical, just my 2 cents worth.

Working within sensible budget restraints ($4k or less); I am a fan of Yamaha NS1000M speakers and my current favorite, Gale GS401A (see my previous post on the Gales). Both speakers look good and are very dynamic. But, do they reproduce grand piano faithfully? No, but they do sound nice and do a reasonable job.

I like "s1nn3r" and "newbees" answer to the OP; either buy a used piano or fantasize. I like the "fantasize" idea; isn’t that what we do all the time as audiophiles?
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,253 posts
 
Snapsc the Impact monito bass are good but they are even better with sub, Sbayne use Rhythmic sub.True no one can copy the sound of piano like it is unless you buy one....But the closest I have heard is the Austin Acoustic horn system 750k over budget for 746k
snapsc OP
685 posts
 
@jayctoy.  So far most comments have been that it is hard to do a piano. In my mind this is a good test for an "affordable" loudspeaker for anyone considering a new speaker.

The DI and DI Monitor are getting great write ups for their overall realism. As a follow up. Are you saying that the DI Monitors when used with a sub have the scale to do a good piano?  Also, please comment on their clarity....why...as I noted above, it's really hard to do clear piano. 
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