Ed Well I'm the first to recognize the concept of optimizing efficiency. But the whole of what we call a grand piano is in the end a very complicated thing as is any idea of just what optimized tone is. Its a can of worms as big as any ever opened. But sticking to just lots of power and lots of sustain.... and sticking to the pianos out there that are available to compare with, I question whether or not it is possible to confirm that the most optimized way to go in this issue is rock hard rims. That said... I'll be the first willing to bow to any objectivly arrived at data which shows clearly that the total system efficiency can be maximized with a hardwood rim vs other system configurations. I'm not purporting to <<know>> the facts of the matter ... quite the opposite really, my head is itching again :) Yet it does strike me that there are several approaches that all yeild very good results. And tho there are voiced opinions as to tone/sustain/power with respect to rim hardness for several piano makes in our mongst, and regardless of how high esteem I hold those whome these come from, I find no confirming consensus amoungst the greater world of pianotechs and pianists around me and my own experiences are thus far at odds with claims of <<harder rims = more power and sustain>>. Apprapo Andre Segovia..... Its an interesting question to be sure. As is the more scopefull question of how each piano component might <<best>> contribute to optimizing the system impedance matching. A question comes to mind about alternative rims... the plexiglass rims.... how would you suppose they should perform and does this match up with any listening experiences you may have had with them ? I listened to one in Japan last year... but wasnt really thinking along these lines at the time. Sounded like a typical Yamahamahoo really. Which is pleasing enough. As always... I enjoy reading your thoughts immensly Ed. Cheers RicB ........................ Ric writes: << Another question comes to mind since you site more power.... Power is the tradeoff for sustain when talking about impedance issues in pianos... yes ? << Ed replies: I don't know if that is actually a fact. Resonant systems often demonstrate an increase in both when the system becomes more efficient. Consider what we could expect from rims made of rubber, which would be dead everywhere, I think, to a rim made of glass, which would probably be pretty loud over a small range of notes. Somewhere in between is a material that possesses the optimum density and elasticity to maximize the energy's transformation from mechanical to acoustic. The weight of the framing and case, the thickness of the plate, the thickness of the board, the bearing pressure, back-scale length, etc. all combine to create what is basically a wooden drum. We want it to be evenly responsive to all frequencies from 27.5 Hz to over 10K. A rim-builder I am not, but all other things being equal, I would expect to see a softer rim material absorb more energy than a denser one. I don't know that a soft wood rim with large inserts of metal, or whatnot added is going to respond the same way as an uninterupted laminate of a denser wood. I say that while keeping in mind an anecdote about Andre Segovia. He, in order to prove a point about the guitar's top being the major component of the sound, had a guitar built with paper mache sides. It sounded great. ...................... Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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