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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
vahes
47 posts
 

Most domestic audio rigs can not reproduce the sound of grand piano such as Steinway-D if recorded with no compression. Among Jazz labels DMP was the only label that dared to record piano with minimal compression but unfortunately they are out of business, Telarc was also into audiophile jazz recordings but theirs were not up to DMP standards. Among classical labels BIS records everything uncompressed, if you really want to test a system reproducing grand piano try BIS-1580, Mussorgsky Pictures performed on Steinway-D by Freddy Kempf, the finale of this work will bring the house down if your system can reproduce it in a realistic volume and survive.


snapsc OP
676 posts
 
So, for some people, reproducing a piano may be less meaningful than reproducing an acoustic guitar or a clarinet. In theory, we could have xxxx more threads to see what is recommened for other instruments or voices. Then we could tally the results and see what loudspeakers were good for everything. Then we could rank order them by price so as to help newbies get the best for the least $$$.  The fun point of this thread so far is not what people don't like but what they do like and why and what they have have moved on to. 
russbutton's avatar
russbutton
433 posts
 
This is easy.  Build the Linkwitz LX521 system.  Easy to do for $4000 or less.  And that includes amplification.

Siegfried Linkwitz is one of the premier audio techs on the planet, so you already know his design is superbly engineered.   It doesn't take a genius or $1 million worth of shop gear to build them.  

Build the LX521 and have something equal to the big $60k systems you see here.
whart's avatar
whart
3,050 posts
 
@snapsc- I would venture that if a system produces piano convincingly it ought to do most everything else well, given not only the range of the instrument, but the other demands placed on its reproduction-- dynamics, power, timing, harmonics, etc. 
When I listen for evaluation purposes (as opposed to enjoyment), I try to use a range of different material, almost none of which is "audiophile"-- I don't mean that in a pejorative way, just that I don't want records that are known sonic spectaculars to find the weak points- i want to hear what a system can do "on average" since much of what I listen to was never released in audiophile quality issues though some recordings are still pretty killer. (and some aren't). 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 

@calvinj  Vienna acoustics

Taking another listen to the VA Liszts recently, I remarked that I had never heard the attack on the leading edge of the piano notes rendered in such a life-like fashion.  Of course, it will depend a good deal on the recording.

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