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Congratulations! I've always had a warm spot for Vogels. Nice, nice piano and great pics as well!

Well, I don't think it is a Kawyie. Gaby Tu

Nice piano...That was a fun thread!

Petrof 5'3" ?

Whoops. Just saw the photos

If it's a Vogel, did you buy it locally? That would be Rick Jones in Beltsville or Piano Company in Leesburg....Let us know about the experience....

Richmond Piano was where I purchased.

Good experience.

Probably visited all local stores (5 total) three times each, having a variety of salesperson and test drive experiences. Some bad, some okay, some very nice.

Had a nice phone discussion with Kathy Harl when I first started. Braving the Northern Virginia and Maryland traffic was just not what I wanted to do for my skill level and needs. Maybe the next purchase!

Even considered the internet option (ebay, BHA, PSS). Just too much risk in the end and not the deal I was looking for... But all internet parties I contacted were helpful and appeared honest. I think one can buy an internet piano, but it is mostly the lower tier pianos where that makes sense for now.

Pianos I didn't try but would have liked to:

Estonia
Grotrian
Mason and Hamlin (new)
Bosendorfer

Pianos I liked but just could not see spending for my skill level and having two rowdy boys in the house:

Steinway
Schimmel

Pianos I considered at one time or another:

Kawai RX and GE series
Petrof
Brodmann
Young Chang (when I first started)
Boston

Things that were turn me away from doing business (I obviously had potential to buy at any local store):
- Salespeople that didn't know the industry. (No, Never heard of X? How bout Steinway? Heard of that one?)
- Salespeople that couldn't say anything nice about anything not on their floor. (My recommendation is to always stay positive and encourage the buyer to do research themselves to find out any negatives.)
- Salespeople that continued to call but wouldn't provide a reasonable starting price point. (If it's obvious I'm doing my homework, you should treat me accordingly. I'm not interested in paying MSRP unless it's not ever in stock... never found that an issue with pianos)
- Out of tune pianos.
- The shadow... can I just test drive today?

I started with a flexible budget and was honest with all salespeople that I was aiming for value as one of my factors. If I can get a good deal on something based on my research, my budget will flex. So I was estimating somewhere between $8K and $20K.

I also considered used, but my search usually ended up in finding poorly cared for or pounded daily pianos.

What swayed me to the Vogel? Well, my first play on them wasn't anything impressive at all actually. And I didn't like the bird on the fallboard (how picky is that?). But that's why you have to go back 2 or 3 times to play pianos.

The second round of playing Boston and Kawai was not so impressive. Yamaha never really impressed. Had high hopes for Petrof but was disappointed.

What was the Vogel difference?

1 - Quality/Consistency of Workmanship - I find a German (ok, made in Poland) design and quality to be superior. Kawai was pretty good on this factor.

2 - Tone - Found the few Vogels I played to be just the right balance of warmth and brightness.

3 - Size - a 5'11" is what I was looking for size wise (you do need to aim for 6ft or larger)

to be continued...

Continued:

In general, the workmanship was a cut above for the Vogel and I was able to work a decent deal on the price. The action was light enough for my preference and every one I played was pretty consistent regardless of how recently it had been tuned.

The dealer cut to the chase when I indicated I was ready to cut a deal and I had no need to look elsewhere.

So I didn't buy furniture, and I didn't buy something worthy of a piano party.

Or maybe I did?

Well, I personally think anything with 88 keys is worthy of a piano party.

Sounds like you went about your search in a perfect manner and ended up with the right choice for you.

from Startover Player
Amen!

Congratulations on having a beautiful new piano, and thanks for the very informative report on your shopping experience.

A Vogel is definitely worthy of showing off. It's a very nice piano, and I'm sure you'll be happy with it for many years to come. With a public gathering, others will get to benefit from your purchase as well....I'd vote for showing it off.

Congratulations, we look forward to your recordings next week...

Congratulations on your new piano,

We hope your Vogel gives your family years of musical pleasure. Great detective thread, but alas, we're too late to the chase.

Congratulations on your new Vogel.

You made a great choice. I bought a Vogel 177 Royal Intarsia 8 months ago and love it. I keep saying to myself "Wow! it sounds great" every time I play it. My Royal Intarsia Mahogany version looks incredible too.