Bachus, this post was not aimed at you....or Steve, or Russ, or Sam CA, or any of the KNOWN pianists in the group; we KNOW why you guys want a great piano/(s); for the same reason these durn guitar players (sorry Russ, Nigel, Eric, John C.) HAVE TO HAVE 8 gazillion guitars; it's their PRIMARY instrument and they want as many options as possible. Although we welcome your replies, this was mainly aimed at those keyboardist for whom piano is NOT their primary instrument. I believe Fran's answer came closest to the truth; we hold the piano up as the 'gold standard' and assume that the quality of the PIANO voice will probably reflect the quality of the other voices in the instrument. In any case, very interesting responses and another opportunity to peek into the mind of that mysterious creature, the keyboard player (and his sub-species, the arranger player ).

chas