Piano Manufacturers and Brands: A discussion!

By far my favorite piano I have owned was a beautifully restored ebony 1930's Steinway Model A-3 (the A-3 was a 6' 41/2" model).  I happened across it at a Piano store in Chicago back in the early 1990's that I frequented near my work and got to know the sales person well, always playing their different pianos when I dropped by!  He landed up giving me a heads up that they were wanting to get the piano off their inventory and suggested a price that I actually questioned the  validity of since it was such a bargain.  (I bought him dinner as a thank you!!)  Our home had a large cathedral ceilinged dining and living room area that it fit perfectly in, and, most importantly sounded incredible in.  It played amazingly well and responsive. My piano tuner always said at the time it was one of his favorite pianos to service and play.  Amazing investment that I landed up selling when we sold that home and moved in to another place that just couldn't accommodate the size.  I'll always be partial to a Steinway!

There is a company called Edelweiss that makes very unusual pianos, including the shortest grand piano. 

https://www.edelweisspianos.com/

Often the discussion about pianos focuses on the quality of the sound (of course!) or affordability. I live in central BC, Canada and I have learned to really value customer care and servicing access since the major urban centres are in the south of the province. I can say my experience with Yamaha has been nothing short of phenomenal. I am quite particular and my technician here recommended Yamaha for this reason. I had an issue with one piano's pedal and they upgraded me to a YUS-5 because they wanted me to be happy with my piano - they shipped it to me directly from their factory. Three years later, they allowed me to trade it back at full value to put toward my current piano, a C2X studio grand. 

I would absolutely love a steinway as I played on them regularly at university and they just seem to fit my playing so perfectly. However, the C2X is really quite beautiful and really fits better for where I live and what I have access to for support. Definitely worth keeping in mind since a piano is going to need a lot of care to keep the action regulated and the tone sounding its best.

Steinway is my favorite in both uprights and grands of varying sizes. It has an amazingly sonorous sound. I’ve played on many different brands. Yamaha is my second favorite. 

Certainly an interesting thread here, with lots of good new information. Thanks. (And I think a better place for it than during the livestream.)  1. To me the inertia weight of the keys is extremely important. Our Baldwin 6 foot from the mid-1980s has marvellous tone but it is difficult to play extended fast runs/etudes without developing a bad habit of trying to muscle the fingers. I suspect most players who develop into real virtuosos did not learn on super heavy actions. 2. To the average listener/non-aficiando, I think most grand pianos all sound about the same; 3. Best piano I have ever played was a Fazioli baby grand. It had a perfect action and great tone control. 4. Falcone (I think out of Boston, Massachusetts) made some great pianos in I think the 1990s. 5. Maria, it sounds like you could open a piano shop! :)