Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Is it a bad idea to audition a piano you cannot afford?

So, I was going to by the local Steinway dealer to check some of the pianos there...call it a way of relaxing from a horrible week at work.
But I am wondering if this will be a bad idea, like making me want to have it and not appreciate what I have after doing that.

I don't think experiencing another instrument could hurt you at all. You will gain perspective an may even walk away thinking, "Whats the big deal over this piano?"

Unfortunately, you may also wind up wanting one. I want a Ferrari and someday may have one, but if not, I will live.

Have fun and don't forget to report back here.

It's OK if you leave your credit cards and checkbook at home!

Don't play a 'B' unless you want to be terminally infected.

hahaha reminds me of a friend always buying car magazines...I will always say, I dont care about a magazine of cars I will never own

Shaolin,

Go ahead & visit the place - but leave your checkbook and credit cards at home!

I'd love to own a Sauter Omega, Bluthner 2, Grotrian 225, August Forster 215, Steinway B, Steingraeber D232, or Fazioli 228, but I can't afford them and I can live with that fact. But I can dream, can't I?

I don’t see it as a bad idea at all, if the store owners/sales people don’t mind.

I’ve only visited a Steinway dealer/showroom once in my life, and it was by mistake. I’d say my experience there was rather unusual, and it made me think about my persona and the way I present myself to piano dealers/sales people…

In this instance, I had planned on visiting a rather well known piano store in the metro Atlanta area; the Steinway dealer was right next door to the dealer I wanted to visit. Since I had never visited either store, I walked into the Steinway store first, by mistake, and asked for a particular salesperson I had spoken to on the phone. A rather well-dressed salesman told me that person didn’t work there, but worked at the dealer next door. I said I was in the wrong store… he said, “no, you’re in the right store”. He asked me what I was looking for and how much I wanted to spend. I told him what kind of piano I had planned on checking out at the dealer next door.

In the meantime, I saw a young couple trying out a Steinway grand. Oh how I wanted to play one of the Steinways there! However, I had already given myself away, by telling the salesperson what I was planning on looking at next door.

The salesman began to show me some kind of pyramid chart with the different piano makes and how they fit into the market. He politely lead me over to some console uprights with the brand name “Cristofori”, which I had never heard of, but didn’t know much about pianos to start with at that particular time.

He tells me the brand is made in China and how the quality of the make was good and getting better and better. He plays a little on it, and asks me to try it out… I play a little on it, (what little I could play) and tell him, “yea, it sounds and plays nice”.

The whole time I was thinking I was in the wrong place, and that salesperson had sized me up one side and down the other, and made a determination that I was Cristofori material and not Steinway material. After I thought about that a while, it kind of hurt my feelings a little…

Of course, I don’t think I could make myself pay more for a piano than I paid to have my house built back in the 1980’s.

Oh well, such is life in the world of piano shopping. A bad idea to play high-end pianos you cannot afford at the dealer? I don't think so...

Rick

My son and I had a great time visiting Steinway Hall a few years back. I did a good job of appearing to be on the market. That kept up their interest.

Well, I WAS in the market at that point, but even an "A" was beyond my budget.

Rick,

The salesman didn't need to size you up, you gave yourself away!

Very true, Marty.

But we do indeed learn from our past experiences. As I’ve gotten older, I’m better at pretending to be someone I’m not.

Rick

When shopping in Italy, one must wear great shoes.

It's a good idea to audition pianos when you're waiting for probate.

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When I visit a store and the conversation quickly turns to questions like "What do you do for a living? When are you planning on buying? How much are you prepared to spend?" rather than "What do you think of these pianos?", it's a big turn-off to put it lightly.

They could at least pretend to care about finding the right piano for their customer, as opposed to finding the right customer for their piano...

But definitely do try out pianos above and below your budget. It gives you a better understanding of what's out there, so you can figure out which qualities are most important to you, and which you're willing to compromise. (You may also discover that price does not necessarily equal performance.) And, depending on your personality, you may even walk away from those instruments with a renewed appreciation for the one you have.

Marty,

I own great shoes. They cost as much as my house.

Absolutely! How are you every going to learn anything if you never leave the house?

Thanks for the comments all!
Yeah it makes sense, I recall when I used to buy internet direct speakers and went to compare them to "name brand" speakers, it was a GREAT experience to feel that I was getting so much more for my money. Of course, this is not the same case but at least I will be able to tell what exactly I get with such an expensive piano compared to mine.
They have others like Essex which are the closest to an affordable Steinway to me which will be fun to compare at slightly higher price than mine but being 5-8 vs 6-1.
In any case, I will do it just to relax

You would be welcomed with open arms at Fazioli!

I tried my first Mason & Hamlin before I could afford one. It took a couple of less expensive pianos before I could get mine.

Well, ya gotta admit that Shaolin isn't exactly comparing to a CL freebie!

hahaha thanks Marty!
I should have taken my Sony camera with me and my Zoom recorder darn it...maybe I should do it next week