<HTML>Saw a Petrof just like what you decribe about 6 months ago. The tone was very much like the upright Petrof's, warm with character and flexibility, but lacking focus and articulation. The regulation had not been addressed since purchase, but was so bad that it could not have been regulated at sale time. It needed more than the usual amount of prep - less pianos, however, in that many key bushings were tight, spacing and the evenness of factory regulation (let - off, checking, drop, etc.) would not come into place if I corrected hammer blow distance. Voicing was clearly untouched, the hammers had grooving into very soft felt. Despite these deficiencies, I liked the piano, because I knew with 2-3  hours at my hands it would sound wonderful. Unfortunately, they haven't done the work, so I can't report that it all happenned as I expected. I also have a Piano MADE by Petrof (Weingrad, or something like that). which is this size. In every respect, it is a wonderful piano, rivalling a Schimmel, and with much the same character. It does have a nice soundboard crack, but it seems to have had no effect on tone. My personal opinion says that 18,000 is a very good price (if well regulated, voiced, etc.) and that 19,500 should be your upper limit to buy.                                            Michael Meade </HTML>