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How to reproduce sound of piano


I currently own a decent rig, Mac MA 2275, AP Sparks, Marantz 8001, Rega Apollo, Benchmark DAC w/ Squeezebox Duet. I love the way it sounds with jazz, voice, orchestral works and also it's decent with chamber music.

But I find when I'm listening to piano solo performances it doesn't quite sound nearly good as the live instrument. This is too bad because I mainly listen to classical piano works. I want to build a new system from scratch dedicated to listen to solo piano works as well as piano conertos.
I don't care for "warmth", "timbre", "soundstage" or other loaded audiophile terms. Just want absolutely accurate piano reproduction as possible.

What qualities should I look for? Analog vs digital source. Solid state vs tube amp? I find my tube amp unable to keep up with technical masters as Pollini or Horowitz. But will going to SS take away from the performces of more romantic pianists like Kempf and Zimerman? As for speakers, I never heard of a speaker capable of reproducing the deep bass of a 9ft+ concert Steinway grand. Are electrostatics way to go? My budget is around $25K USD. Thanks for any feedback.
plaser
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,964 posts
 
Off the cuff, I'd love to hear a properly functioning pair of full range Ohm Fs sourced from a very good Class D amp like say a Rowland set up properly in a moderately large room with any quality digital or phono front end for a shot at doing piano exceptionally well for reasonable cost.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Right on Detlof. . . I found that in some cases, there are some details of piano sound that I can hear -- or perhaps feel -- only when when my own now totally inept fingers are at the keyboard. . . e.g. the absolutely magic harmonics of a Bosendorfer. The 5 CD set of complete Dvorak piano works with Inna Poroshina at the piano is Brilliant Classics 92606. The quality of the compositions varies from dutiful to great. . . but Poroshina is invariably magnificent.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Mapman, for the most refined results on piano using JRDG amps, you should consider models that either are equipped with active power factor correction like Continuum 500 and 312, or models that can be augmented by PC1 external PFC units like 201 and 501 monos. Without power factor correction, 201 and 501 can sound slightly 'matter of fact'. Fair to state that, even with my beloved JRDG 312 and Capri in the system, significant musical value was still added by the addition of the SR PowerCell conditioner + Precision Ref PC combination, to which I feed all components, including amp.
plaser OP
26 posts
 

As a side note, I forgot to mention that my Grados GS-1000 headphones actually does very good job with piano (much better than speakers). Right now, I listen to most piano works on my headphones. But given it's a can, it lacks soundstage and the music is in my head so I only use it for solo works where soundstage is not as important. Anyone else feel that best headphones do better justice to piano than most speakers?
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,964 posts
 
"Grados GS-1000 headphones actually does very good job with piano (much better than speakers)"

Doesn't surprise me.

On the scale at which they must operate to produce realistic SPLs to the ear, the wide range drivers in headphones are physically much better equipped to handle the fast transient dynamics associated with piano string strikes than are most dynamic speakers involving large drivers with higher physical mass.
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