Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum 5 foot versus 6 foot grand

Hi,
can you guys advice me on this subject, I'm on the market
for Korean baby grand piano now and not sure if it's worthy over 1k$ for additional foot Can I hear the difference?
It's for my living room instrument.
thanks

Who knows but you?

decibel can tell I made mistake actually I meant 5 foot versus 6, sorry.

I think it depends on the individual piano(s).

Rick

All things being equal,there is a great difference between a 5 and 6 foot piano. The six footer will be more resonant and have a much better bass. That is with all things being equal. Outside of that, it does depend on the individual specific pianos. If you are talking about two new pianos from the same manufacture, it will be a difference you can definitely hear and experience in your living room. It won't be a subtle difference.

Welcome to the forum, piano_shark.

Only you can determine if the improvement in sound is worth the price differential. We don't know your financial circumstances; if you're Bill Gates, then yeah, spend the extra thousand bucks. But if the extra cost would prove a substantial hardship, then don't.

We also don't know anything about your background in piano. I know that when I bought my first piano as a brand new beginner, I could barely hear the difference between an entry level small upright and a six foot grand. After playing a year and auditioning many pianos when I was looking to upgrade, I not only could hear differences much more readily among pianos but had also developed strong preferences.

My advice would be to bring some of your sheet music (assuming you already play at least a little) to the dealer and spend an afternoon going back and forth between the two pianos. If after playing both examples for an extended period you *still* have no strong preference between them, buy the cheaper one. If you decide you prefer the longer one significantly, then decide if you can comfortably handle the increased cost.

Monica gives good advice.
Generally those people who know pianos will certainly be able to tell the difference (in sound) between a five foot and a six foot piano.
And it would be a rare 5 foot piano that would sound better than a six foot piano, and certainly not one from the same manufacturer I wouldn't think.

yes the extra foot is easily worth the 1K

Within the same brand or line of pianos, I have never found a 5' model that I preferred to the 6' model. Depending on your space, budget, and volume of the piano relative to the room, I would opt for the larger piano.

I'm basically in the same situation. I don't want to paint myself into a corner, and while I CAN hear the difference between my 30 year old spinet and the (low end) baby grands I’m looking at, it’s hard for me tell the difference between the actual new pianos. I assume this will come with time, I think for now I will get something I’m comfortable with and in a few years when I develop a taste then I can upgrade again. I definitely want to upgrade the spinet now.

This is pretty much the path I took...

I started with a 40 year old Cable console, then upgraded to a 40 year old Kohler & Campbell studio; then the grand piano bug bit!

I didn’t have room for a grand in my home, so I enclosed my attached car port, just so I’d have room for a grand. It turned out great.

I can’t say my playing has improved all that much, but my pianos sure have!

Good luck, and keep us informed!

Rick

One of the biggest factors here, IMO, is whether the pianos are otherwise equivalent.

Although I would say the 6-footer almost always wins (and I don't like the 5-footers), I might still take a shorter piano over a longer piano if the materials, construction, preparation, age, and condition were superior on the smaller one.

However, if the pianos are otherwise equivalent, I'd pay the 1k additional for the extra foot every time (as long as I had the room).

Greetings,
There are few 5' pianos sold that are much more than a price-point designed product that has so many compromises, they should be labeled "furniture". There is little profit in the smaller pianos, so manufacturers, usually, use the least expensive material in them. The Steinway S is one exception, and I have seen several older, German, small grands, (names escape me, but they were long), that were responsive, balanced instruments.

One way to filter what you can live with is to go to the 5' grand, and play the first few notes on the tenor bridge, right above where the bass strings stop. Play them with attention, several times. Ask yourself what kind of tone are you hearing. Hit it hard and soft, then compare it to other notes maybe a fifth away. Then do the same on the larger piano.
That break note is where the shortcomings of small pianos first display themselves, so don't buy the piano if you are going to ask the first tech that shows up to "do something" about this note, because you "didn't hear it sound like that in the store".
6' is a serious size grand, you might consider something a bit smaller. I would suggest that there is more difference between a 5' and a 5' 7", than there is between a 5'7" and a 6'.
Regards,

One thousand dollars for an extra foot is a steal in my opinion.
Usually you have to pay several thousand dollars just for another inch or so.

For a really small grand I always especially liked the Baldwin Ms (5'2") I've played. Very musical for a small instument. I agree however that if the poster could go to a 5'7" he would be much better off.

Rich

Generally true but not *all*.

There are notable exceptions and those pianos are doing very well on market right now.

Norbert

Yes, in fact this looks suspicious to me. I was looking at two instruments a foot apart in size, and the larger instrument cost nearly twice as much.

Hi Monica,
and thanks. About my background - I've been playing long time on and off but last 10 years almost exclusively on digital stage pianos so sound creation had nothing to do with the size of the instrument although it had to do with size of the speakers Anyway now I have a space and money for acoustic.
I can imagine then that size of the piano matters in regards loudness and low sounds generations but can't tell yet if a foot difference in length matters a lot. I see some here are saying it does matters but I guess this is like automatic response "bigger the better" while I cannot agree this is always the case in general. In regards of loudness even small piano is more then enough to normal living room so I figure 5 foot grand will suffice here. Now sound generation - will a difference of 1 foot be noticeable in living room condition?
thanks

p.s.
I am comparing same make of identical pianos but the length.

Not to sound like a broken record, or an old guy who tells the same old stories over and over again…

I tend to agree with Norbert here… it depends on the individual baby grand piano. Case in point, the small community technical college where I work has a late 1980’s 4’10” Chickering (Baldwin) baby grand piano that has a low bass tone that will surprise you… a lot; also, the rest of the piano has a very nice tone over all, and a smooth, medium-heavy key touch.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with that fact that our own Del Fandrich had a role in designing that particular model baby grand when he worked for Baldwin back in the day, (probably so) but I think that little piano is an exception to the rule.

Then again, that is just my opinion.

Best regards and best of luck with your piano search.

Rick

While there may be some exceptional 5' pianos, they are extremely rare. The vast majority of 5' pianos are instruments built to hit a price point (a low price point). The issue is the length of the bass strings. The shorter the piano the shorter the bass strings which means they need to wrap the string with would copper in order to increase its mass while avoiding rigidity. Increased rigidity is unavoidable and raises the harmonics of the string causing inharmonicity). Additionally there is the issue that longer strings are preferred, but in a short piano longer strings put the end of the string at the margins of the sound board (reducing the ability of the string to move the sound board).

In a 6' piano these issues are not as significant an issue, but of course they're better in a 7' piano. Similarly, that's why a concert grand is a 9' piano. However, the real difference seems to factor in between 5 and 6 feet in length. A 5' piano is generally not a satisfactory instrument for a critical ear. At 5'6" things seem to get a bit better and I've heard some 5'10" instruments that sounded quite good. I have not heard any instruments longer than 6' that sounded like a short piano (tubby sounding inharmonic bass). Once you know what to listen for you'll hear it almost universally in short pianos.

You dismiss those who caution against a 5' piano as an "automatic response." You obviously have reasons for preferring a shorter instrument. I would suggest you get the floor templates from your dealer to know exactly how much floor space a particular instrument will actually take. The difference between a 5' and 6' piano is just 12". Keep in mind the need for adequate space for the bench and the player. I had my bench too close to the piano for comfort for years, I feel so much better now that I've moved the thing another 4" out.

One last point, if you're determined to get a 5' baby grand, why not consider an upright? The tallest uprights have longer strings and better designs than the shortest grands.