<html> Well, I thought maybe I would chime in a little and expand a little on Del's comments here: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite> <dl> <dd>....In design, even "cheap" pianos are engineered to have proper down <dd>bearing, bridges etc. The problem between the cheap and the expensive ones <dd>are that in the manufacturing process, </dl>Fundamentally this is true. More specifically, it lies in the amount of money spent on production machinery to remove hand labor.</blockquote> The cheapest pianos, though, are those made by inexperienced labor at very low wages, often using very inefficient production methods.  Even the most mechanized factory spends most of its money on labor, so the only way to lower the costs further is to move the factory where the labor is cheaper.  When this is done by an experienced piano company the results can be reasonable instruments.  When it is done by an upstart company, the results can be pretty questionable. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite> <dl> <dd>if a problem is discovered with the <dd>expensive one, it is sent back through, while with the cheap ones, there <dd>isn't the time, nor the money, to do it over again. So the piano is sent out <dd>as is. But that is why it is a "cheap" piano. </dl>I've not really seen this happening, and have commented on it in another post. If interested the reader can refer to that post.</blockquote> I agree with Del - this depends much more on the specific dealer than the profit margin. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>One would certainly think this would be consistently true, but it often seems that the manufacturer of the low-cost piano is more concerned with backing up its products than are the manufacturers of more expensive pianos. Perhaps this is because the low-end manufacturer might be more willing to accept that their pianos may, indeed, have problems.</blockquote> I think it is more a matter of the lower cost piano maker must try harder to build a reputation.  The distribution arms usually handle all the warranty coverage, and they can't control what the factory makes, so they have to do everything they can to fix problems in the best way possible. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>It should be possible to mass-produce pianos giving excellent performance. Good piano design, hence good piano performance, is not--at least is not inherently--expensive. Rims and soundboards can now be made efficiently by machine, why shouldn't they be made in such a way that they perform well.</blockquote> There is no avoiding, though, that the skill and experience of the piano builder is what raises a piano to the level that musicians really respect and enjoy.  Here are a few examples; - It is more expensive for a company to thin soundboards than to leave them even thickness.  Even mechanized thinning is rather expensive if done well. - It is more expensive to use hammers made with low heat, both in terms of hammer factory efficiency and voicing time. - It is much more expensive to level strings and fit hammers and voice carefully.  The technicians who do final regulation, tuning and voicing are among the most expensive workers any company employs. There are other examples, but these are 3 that have a strong impact on the tone and touch response of the instrument.  While one can make dramatic improvements in well built "cookie cutter" pianos by doing thorough voicing and prepping in the dealer or home, when the piano company knows how to do these detailed and labor intensive steps well, the final product is on a higher plane than the one which is 'merely' well engineered. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Increasingly I am becoming convinced that what you get with an expensive piano is exclusivity, excellence in marketing (and all that that brings with it, some good and some bad) and, at least potentially, somewhat better materials. None of which necessarily translate into improved tone performance. The potential performance gains afforded by better materials can probably be designed around, given some effort.</blockquote> This is very true, in that American buyers have become so bullied into thinking that they can't hear, that they have to have specifications or stories to convince them to buy a particular piano.   Who cares if the piano has mezothermonealstabilization - how the heck does it sound??? Manufacturers and distributors of pianos here in the US are the most responsible for this, along with the dealers who have found that it works.  You really can sell a lot of junk pianos if the 'story' works with the customers. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>As I've said in other posts, we--the collective we; technicians, dealers, consumers, all of us--have not been demanding much in the way of piano performance over the past few years. We've been demanding perfect polyester finishes, perfectly fitting hardware and casework, perfect coils on perfect pins, perfect bridge notching, perfect soundboard wood, perfectly shaped hammers, perfect tunability--yes, especially perfect tunability--perfect everything except truly musical instruments. </blockquote> I have long complained that tuners like to recommend pianos that tune easily and look nicely made.  One would hope that this would translate into the best instruments, but it doesn't necessarily.  Some of the worst looking examples of nasty bridge notching I have ever seen have been truly wonderful sounding instruments!  Horrible to tune, but plays and sounds great.  Conversely, some of the cleanest tuning, visually perfect instruments I have worked on were horrible musical instruments. <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>It is my opinion that, finally, the marketplace is speaking. As the piano has become nothing more than a perfect piece of furniture they are going off to buy something else. Perhaps it's time to bring back the music.</blockquote> Easier said than done.  There is way too much momentum keeping the current process going - as you said, the market speaks.  The brave dealers and technicians who really try to make quality music work to sell pianos are forced to go along with their competitors.  The buyers come in the store needing to hear a better story that the previous dealer gave them - and getting that customer to agree to the sale is what pays the dealer's bills. Don Mannino RPT</html>