Why not the piano as a reference for bass

Could you name the artist in this album ?

Effectively  the viol is also an instrument useful to test bass rendition...

Re piano. I rediscovered an album from long ago that I found in the cut-out bin of a long-forgotten record store. The title is "audio symphony", Check up your sounds Vol, 1. It was produced by RCA Japan in 1976 and distributed by Audio Technica.

All I can tell you is what my ears tell me.  For reference in my own listening room I have recently replaced a Yamaha C7 with a Clavinova.  I did this because to my ears the difference when the C7 is in tune was indistinguishable from the Clavinova and more importantly for me, the latter is always in tune.  I am not a pianist, however, but rather a drummer for whom the piano is a means to an end.  YRMV.

This is a most interesting discussion.  Ruminating further about past experiences is pertinent.  First a disclaimer.  I can hear the difference between any two pianos.  Let me explain.  When I have gone to the Steinway studio, something I have done in Seattle, San Francisco, and NYC in years go by, I have easily been able to distinguish the sound of not only say a B from a D, but B1 from B2 from B3, and D1 from D2 etc.  Or in another setting, upon entering a hall, without looking I have been able over the years to tell if the piano is a Mason & Hamlin (a favorite of mine) or a Baldwin etc.  With that as a back drop, in my misspent youth I tried (and failed miserably) to record pianos.  Choice of mics, mic placement, mic distance, room acoustics, all muck things up.  These factors make good piano recordings a rare and precious commodity.  But if you find a good one, and there are good ones, IMHO, there is no finer recording to judge your system than a good piano recording.  From top to bottom.  Bass included.

Amazing post! and truthful for me...

Could you please name one or two even three albums of piano very well recorded...i want to buy them...

It is very important because as you i think piano sound is a judge in my system/room...

Thanks for your time...

This is a most interesting discussion.  Ruminating further about past experiences is pertinent.  First a disclaimer.  I can hear the difference between any two pianos.  Let me explain.  When I have gone to the Steinway studio, something I have done in Seattle, San Francisco, and NYC in years go by, I have easily been able to distinguish the sound of not only say a B from a D, but B1 from B2 from B3, and D1 from D2 etc.  Or in another setting, upon entering a hall, without looking I have been able over the years to tell if the piano is a Mason & Hamlin (a favorite of mine) or a Baldwin etc.  With that as a back drop, in my misspent youth I tried (and failed miserably) to record pianos.  Choice of mics, mic placement, mic distance, room acoustics, all muck things up.  These factors make good piano recordings a rare and precious commodity.  But if you find a good one, and there are good ones, IMHO, there is no finer recording to judge your system than a good piano recording.  From top to bottom.  Bass included.

@mahgister wrote: "Could you please name one or two even three albums of piano very well recorded...i want to buy them...

"It is very important because as you i think piano sound is a judge in my system/room..."

You might consider "Red Descending" by solo artist Seth Kaufman.

Seth was a medical student in New Orleans when I first heard him play at a Barnes & Noble. He blew me away so I bought his album, "Circling Noon".   When his new (at the time) album came out, "Red Descending", I bought it because I was already enjoying "Circling Noon" immensely.  Loved it, still do.

Then I got a chance to hear him live again in a real venue, and the Yamaha grand piano he was playing sounded to me just like the one on "Red Descending"  (I had been listening to the album over Sound Lab electrostats).  After the performance I asked him about it, and he said YES, it WAS the same piano!  He'd gone to the trouble and expense of having his piano crated and trucked from New Orleans to the recording studio in Los Angeles for recording the album.

Not that I am any expert on piano recordings, but apparently "Red Descending" is a good enough recording that a non-piano-player could tell with pretty high confidence when he heard that same piano again. 

Duke