Thank you everyone for the congrats! Okay. Here’s the story. I’ve been researching upright pianos for months. I ruled out all Kawais. Didn’t like any Yamahas, Bostons, and all the other kinds of pianos around this city. I went to see a Bechstein -Academy A-6 in a home, didn’t like it at all. Not one bit. Way too remote sounding. So I bought this piano having never heard one in person. I know. They don’t exist anywhere in the southern US. I was more willing to try it unheard, than fly places. I went by tons of videos listened to with good earphones, reviews, comments, etc especially Stu’s. So I’ve had it now almost 3 weeks. I’ve just now gotten to the point where I can say I love this piano! My first reaction was Whoa this is so different from the Yamaha I had where I liked the bright direct sound. Hard to explain sound but I’d say this new one is more indirect? More hollow? More roundabout? This was the top half. Pretty sound though for sure. Nice and bright with some character to it. Then the bottom half….. I didn’t like it. It was more distant, nasal maybe, muddy, closed in? Like a thin shield was between my ear and the piano? Not the bass oomph and volume I thought I’d get with 4 more inches. I don’t know, I was disappointed. But I was drawn to it all the time trying to figure out what I was feeling and kept playing and practicing. I absolutely loved the top half, and still tried to accept the bottom half. I told the tech coming out to tune it this week, I will need some voicing done to strengthen some lower notes where several are weaker. He will evaluate. Meanwhile I decided I need to check out a Yamaha YUS5 in the store. Maybe I’m just a Yamaha girl. Maybe I learned a lesson that many have warned about, don’t buy a piano without hearing it first! However, I did hold off on going in to see it. It seemed like I was being unfaithful to my new piano. At least I need to wait til the tech comes. I owe this Hoffmann that. But then…… a miracle happened last night. You see in the pic I had a wall of rugs hanging behind my Yamaha piano because the reverb was too much with my wood floors etc. ( it’s a townhome and I initially worried about the neighbors on that wall). Well last night it occurred to me out of the blue when I was practicing to take them down! Oh. My. Gosh…… My piano blossomed like it broke up through the soil! What?!?! The bass is robust now! Clearer! Louder! The tenor and treble are even brighter and sparklier! I was floored. I called my daughter immediately to exclaim ( since she knew I was having piano issues). I was so happy!! She was so happy for me! I experimented moving it closer to the now-exposed wall like about 5 inches. Moved it back out to 8 inches away. It slides easily. So I’m so pleasantly surprised to learn that soft furnishings can help or hinder depending on the piano. My 25/yr old Yamaha liked it cozy. This new W.Hoffmann likes it open and exposed! Hallelujah! I am now thrilled with my new T-122! Once it’s tuned this week it will be even more delightful! 😃 Thank you for reading this letter.
