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How to choose between two pianos, which are at different locations?

I tried August Foster 125G, and I loved the responsiveness and the tone.
At other location, I also tried several pianos, and Estonia L-168 sounded lovely to me.

There is no way comparing the pianos side by side, resale value is not of much importance as buying a piano at this price range is a big investment for me, and I suppose to keep it.
Vertical or grand - no preference, will prefer a better piano.

Wanted to hear some tips, how you compared pianos at different locations and on different dates.

I am an early advanced player, and have ability to compare pianos, but cannot yet play pieces like 3rd mvt of Moonlight Sonata, for example.
Which piano has better potential for really difficult pieces?

Well, a grand is a grand, especially a good one...

On the other hand, great quality uprights can also make much sense: I happen to own a Sauter upright at home.

It's a decision everyone will have to make for him/herself.

Now, what do we always say: play as many pianos as......

Norbert

If you can record the pianos this may help you remember how they sound depending on the quality of your recording equipment. Otherwise, you can only try out each piano enough times to hope that eventually one will finally appeal to you more.

The best uprights are designed to be highly capable, but are still inherently a compromise at several levels. A fine grand like the Estonia L168 has many musical advantages over even the best developed and sometimes more expensive uprights. If you have the space, a grand like the Estonia is a better choice. A top upright might still be preferred over some very small grands, but the L168 represents no such compromise.

I think the best way is to set up an evaluation system and record your responses each time you play any of the pianos.

A simple 1-10 rating for tone, touch, finish, fit, style, and any others which are of concern to you. You can get as detalied as you like. It is a great reminder when you are away from the pianos.

It is also a good idea to record the serial numbers of the instruments. That way, you are certain that you are playing the same piano and not a twin.

A written record is much better than relying on memory or impressions.

Between an upright and a grand of reasonable length with equally appealing sound and quality, I'd go for the grand any time. If you can play fast trills and therefore test the rapidity of the piano key action, you might already find that the grand's is superior. Or just play repeated notes with two hands to test for the same - at your present level, you may not need the ability to repeat a note before the key has fully returned, but you may be grateful for it in the not too distant future, if the piano inspires you to practise a lot.........

Theres no comparison. I love the August Forster 125g but grand is grand.
Renner vertical vs REnner grand?
I still love the August Forster tone but estonia is just appealing

In the end, it will matter less than you think.

Thanks all for given advice.



Here the issue is . August Forster has really appealing tone to me, but grand is grand (especially a good one).
And I cannot compare them directly at one location.

Why not use your digital camera/camcorder (preferably of good quality) and record yourself playing the same music at both locations, then connect your camera to your computer or TV with good speakers (or else use good headphones) and listen to the results one after the other/side by side? Make sure you have everything from ppp to fff covered.

I did that with several pianos that I played on recently, using my Panasonic TZX camera, which I placed about three feet away from the piano. When I got home and inserted the memory card into my TV (which is connected to my hi-fi - I don't do computer stuff.....), the sound quality is more than good enough to judge from. At the very least, the tone quality came through clearly from all the different pianos.

Yes, looks like I need to do this
Thanks.
PS. Most replies are for grand.

Here is a technique I have used many times to make a qualitative decision. Make a scoring system as described above and objectively rate each item. Then add up the scores to see which one wins. Now comes the interesting part. I almost always find that I don't want to choose the objective winner. But what this prossess has done is convince me which one I prefer with my heart.

You are about to buy a musical instrument. Do not allow logic and thought to cloud the preferences of your heart.

SoundThumb gets a !

Robert lowery doesn't prep their piano. What do you think about their Vogel 180t? Its my favorite at this price range. Estonia is as appealing, in a different way.

Logic and thought only enters the equation when there's a fixed budget involved..... .

Three years ago, I was in the interesting position of looking for the best 'piano'
money could buy (at the time) - only that it had to be a digital, because of neighbor and space problems. Money was no object, but of course, with digitals, even the most expensive ones barely reach the price of half-decent five-foot acoustic grands.

And I found that heart, logic and thought all melded into one.....and though my purchase was expensive, it was far from being the most expensive digital available. But because all three morphed into one, unlike many digital users, I've never felt any need to 'upgrade', nor any regrets, nor 'what ifs'.

I'd think that if I was buying an acoustic grand, with a budget in mind, logic wouldn't come into it. Just thought and heart will do - and I'd put more money in the bank, because my budget will almost certainly need to go up........

Have not seen this one yet, thanks for the tip.

All I know is that my preferences vary day to day and piece to piece...

+1.