How to reproduce sound of piano

Wow thanks for all the responses. It appears that the task is much more daunting than I imagined, but that makes this hobby the more exciting. FYI, my current system is in my condo but I'm planning to build a dedicated listening area in my weekend house so the space is no longer a factor. So from so far, looks like right speakers with good subwoofers and a top notch turntable is the way to go.

It probably goes without saying, but since no one has touched on it yet; not only is the Piano one of the most difficult to reproduce, it also seems to be one of the most difficult to record judging by the wide range of results I've heard on my own systems. The recording itself is going to have a profound effect of how real the instrument sounds. Seems to me that in general studio recordings are more successful than live stage recordings in bringing the instrument into my room. BTW I'm not using the classic formula of profound muscle from my amps to do this. I use 9 watt SET amps and high efficiency speakers in a moderately sized room. It's certainly not the last word in 'live' sound, but it does a pretty good job to my ears. I've also had powerful amps (Bel Canto Ref 1000's) in the same room and they did a very nice job as well, but I prefer the sound of the SET amps overall. I do use a sub. I know you said you listen to mostly classical (as far as piano music, so do I), but the most realistic portrayal I've heard of a piano in my space comes from a gifted alt-pop artist, Tori Amos, who was a child-prodigy on piano and remains an amazing keyboard artist. She is a Bosendorfer sponsored artist. Pick up a copy of her out-of-print EP of "God" and listen to the two piano solos on that EP. That's the closest I've heard to the piano in my listening room. It occurs to me as a very closely miked recording and has the most immediacy of any I've heard of a piano. Most of the classical recordings I enjoy seem more distant in comparison. I wonder if anyone could comment further on this - why aren't there more recordings like this in the classical realms?

I heard a pair of Audio Note speakers at a dealers'. I wasn't there to audition and it was very brief but I clearly remember how life-like the piano sounded.

Piano is very hard to record so it sounds natural, as Jax2 says. Close-miking gets half of it; miking back gets the other half; using both compromises imaging. If the engineer does get it right, it is, as others say, very hard to reproduce naturally.

My favourite piano system involved SET tube amplification and large horns (Loth-X Polaris). It was the only system I'd ever heard get attack and dynamics nearly right as well as timbre.

Well, if you are going to build a larger, and dedicated sound room, that changes things greatly.

I would build a room at least 16'-20' wide. IMO, anything less is a compromise.

I would also go with double wall construction...lots of bass trapping behind the outer walls.

I would also give the ceiling lots of thought, depending on what type you have to go with?

In a well constructed larger room, you have lots of component/speaker choices at your price level.

Large "fullrange" dipoles would be (my) first choice...(a fresh pair of Apogee fullrage maybe?)

A well designed horn system would be very, very nice (take a look at some of the "Classic Reproductions" systems.)

And of course the "active" ATC's mentioned by Shadorne would be a top choice.

The Beveridge speakers I mentioned above would work fine in the room you are in now (they will play plenty loud in that room)...but they would not be my pick, for large room reproduction.

Dave