<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2873" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>Hi Ric,</DIV> <DIV>Some nice and eloquently expressed comments on the Steinway-Boesendorfer front.</DIV> <DIV>I was very interested in your comment regarding Yamaha 'perhaps' joining Steinway in the dominance issue on the orchestral platform.  One of the recent postings describes a 'contest' between the Steinway D and the Yamaha CF111, with the Yamaha losing power at quite a close aural distance.  This has been my experience having heard the Yamaha with full orchestra on a number of occasions.  Are you aware of anything new in the Yamaha design which actually does challenge the power of the best Steinway ?  I have certainly been impressed with many Yamahas, the S6 and the concert grands for instance, which can sound quite splendid in recital venues, but  with a full orchestra don't stand up to the Steinway competition regarding power.  In short, do you think that Yamahas are attepting to compete on power with an orchestra?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>ric</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>