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Came across this review of Petrofs on the web. Any comments? Agree? Disagree?

[Edited to remove text of review ... click link if interested.]

Personally I've always found Petrof actions to be a bit too heavy. However, I understand they have changed their actions recently. I kind of doubt they are as light as she claims they are, but having not played the newer actions, I really can't comment.

Nevertheless, Ms. LaRose has obviously been smoking something that has made her very light-headed as illustrated by her comment about the Steinway credit!!!

Derick

That old review was once published by MusicTownUSA.com on their web site. Search the archive on this forum... IIRC, there are a few posts discrediting that review as well as mention of lawsuit that forced MusicTownUSA.com to take it off their web site.

(Personally, I don't consider Petrof's action that light as well, nor do I consider them "heavy" at all... middel-of-the-road sort of feel. I have had no trouble "controlling" the action of any of the new Petrof grands I came across in the last few years.)

Remember the old saying "consider the source."

Who is Ann LaRose and why did she write the article? Is it paid for testimony and if so by who? How can anyone read it without knowing this first?

MusicTownUSA was a front for a scum-sucking pig. Here was his modus operandi: he would contact a potential advertiser (in this case the USA Petrof distributor) and promise them a great review in exchange for placing a paid ad on his page.

The U.S. Petrof distributor didn't bite, so the vermin behind MusicTownUSA made up a phony negative review. He is lucky that all he got was threatened with a lawsuit and shut down, because he deserved a lot worse. He is nothing more than a slimy wannabe extortionist, and deserved to be treated as such.

As we have seen, this phony review is still making the rounds, and a company that makes very nice pianos is still suffering for it.

I think Petrof should sue. It is a ridiculous review. I am going Friday to test a Petrof for the first time, and I am glad to see this crazy review discredited. It is obvious reading it that it is a falsification. I cannot imagine this person travelling around the country to sample 20 pianos and then having only this lousy write up to show for the thousands it would take to do it.

Any who would write up such a review without comparing it on a rating scale to other pianos? I would be interested in seeing a double blind evaluation of different piano manufacturers...

Just see the keys and have a thin curtain hiding the rest of the instrument. It would be very interesting to see who could not tell a Pepsi from a Coke then!

Thanks all. Petrof is on my short list, so this review made me gasp a bit.

I do not berlieve a word of what was written about Petrof!

But, this arguing about actions' heaviness/lighness and bad controllability of sound volume could be put to an end if there were clear test results showing numerical values of several action parameters, e. g.

- downweight (from bass to trebble)
- upweight (from bass to trebbel)
- dynamic forces / sound output
- repetition speed
- key movement depth
- key position / damper lift, escape
- several other interesing design parameters
- length of white keys
- hammers head weight
- etc.

As the action is the most important part of the piano, the discussion should be more focused on action characteristics, ease of action regulation, reliabilty.

Of course there is still place for subjective information.

Jan-Erik,

You and I basically agree that it would be really nice to have objective, quantitative measurements published for pianos' performance characteristics.

The problem with concentrating on "action" rather than tone, however, is this:

Lots of people can "listen."
Very few can "play."

If the sales pitch is centered around "action," then you'd be pitching something that most people know they cannot evaluate.

It's easy to ask "can you hear how powerful bass is" or "can you hear the amazing sustain" or "can you hear how beautiful the bell-like treble is" and get nods from a shopper.

If you ask "can you feel how even the action is" or "how responsive the keys are" -- the non-pianist shopper would not even know how to react, and those who do need to sit down and spend a few minutes actually play the piano, instead of just nodding within two seconds of a note being struck.

So it makes more business sense to keep harping on "tone" and compliment a shopper for having a "good ear" as he nods despite his lack of pianistic training.

When I was shopping for a grand two years ago, Petrof was on my short list, along with Estonia and August Foerster. To a certain extent, it's the particular piano you find. If I hadn't played the last AF I found in the showroom, I might well have bought a Petrof.

Brick is right on in his recollection of the events surrounding this review. The reviewer was one of the gang that promoted this outrage.
Petrofs are decent instruments and are worthy of anyone comparison in shopping for a quality instrument.
They, like most, require technical preparation to perform and show well. The dealers that do this sell them. The ones who don't don't.

I would not say a product is decent if it is not ready when leveing the factory. I would say the factory made a sloppy finish on a perhaps basicasally good product.

If I were a manufacturer of pianos, I would not depend on dealers to regulate the action, but would have it done on my factory to the right specs. Also the voicing I would do to hte get the typical X-brand's sound, and to guarentee the eveness from bass to trebbel.

The dealers duty is to expose the piano on a good place in the shop, control that nothing has been damaged/altered during transportation, and to keep the piano in tune.

If a client wants the piano voiced differently in connection with a purchase, that is another story.

I am not out to blame any piano brand here, this concerns all industrial products generally and pianos especially.

Petrof is still on my list of pianos I'd consider.

I played one with the magnetic accelerated action. That's not an option I'd pay money for - didn't feel like a real piano to me.

I'm glad that while I was at NAMM others jumped in here and slammed this "review".

It was pure crap when it came out in about 2002 and still is!

I am not sure as to whether this thread should be pulled because of the fake review, or left up so that when it is encountered, it can be discredited.

I can attest to the fact that the asking for an ad
took place. I was the one that turned them down.
Also, in investigating them I checked out some of the people named as their board of directors. Most claimed to not know why they were on the list they were not even aware who they were.
The best was the person named as head of the guitar critics,was the site owners six year old son.I seem to remember it was before 2002 when it first came out.One last thing, up till then Not one 9'Petrof Grand had been delivered to Calif. She claimed to have played one there.

LOL!! Maybe he was a prodigy...

As I remember too that Ann lady said she was a graduate of Curtis and when Geneva called there, they said they never heard of her.

Hi,

I'm in the market to upgrade my upright piano. I'm a senior, returning advanced student. I'm interested to read recent information on the Petrof 131E with Rennor action.

Including the Petrof 131E, what advice can anyone give me with regard to choosing an upright piano with rich, full sound, dynamic range, and fast repetition? Unfortunately, I can't go for a grand.... not enough space in a condo.

Welcome to the forum, lori822. You might be better off to start a brand new thread asking your questions, especially since the thread you're piggy-backing on involved some rather, um, controversial issues.

For fast repetition, I'm a big fan of the Kawai actions, so I'd advise you to try a K8.