Seiler 206cm opinions sought
Steve_K
Larry Fine's book makes some positive noises about Seiler but doesn't
really say too much, and indicates the opinion is based on a small
sample size.
Dejanews, err, deja.com, turns up only a few articles in r.m.m.piano
about Seiler. What's the scoop? I'm interested in opinions on both
the 180 and the 206.
- steve
NSDuncan
>really say too much, and indicates the opinion is based on a small
>sample size.
I've looked at them and played them frequently at the yearly NAMM shows and
like them. They seem to me to be a nicely made German piano that fits into the
heierarchy of German pianos at about the same quality/price level as the
Schimmel. However to my ears the sound of the Seiler is more colorful and
interesting than that of the Schimmel which I find a bit cold or bland. It's
the typical German formula of beech rims, Delignit pinblocks, central European
spruce soundboards, high tension scaling, no duplex scale, and Renner actions -
nothing to complain about there. As I've said, I like them. My own piano has
been another German, an August Foerster, but I wouldn't be in any way unhappy
with a Seiler.
Niles Duncan
Jory Olson
>
>Larry Fine's book makes some positive noises about Seiler but doesn't
>really say too much, and indicates the opinion is based on a small
>sample size.
>
>about Seiler. What's the scoop? I'm interested in opinions on both
>the 180 and the 206.
>
> - steve
I played both the 180 and 206 models recently. Both were impeccably
finished, with really nice details on the plates and so forth. Very fancy.
I preferred the tone of the 206 over the 180, but then I generally go for a
pretty big bass.
Both instruments had a very unusual tone to my ear. They had a "bell-like"
quality to them. I gather that the higher harmonics were almost completely
surprised so pretty much all of the energy was at the fundamental. I played
"Carol of the Bells", the Christmas classic, on them both and that piece
sounded pretty great. However, darker pieces just wouldn't get moody enough
for me. So I guess the tone was too polite and sweet for me, but I didn't
find it unpleasant. I just couldn't get the big chords to growl at me. The
sustain was quite good.
The salesperson told me that the Seilers are the last of the German piano
manufacturers still under family control. They apparently are made in very
small quantities. I would guess that resale would be a pretty big problem.
Jory
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Steve_K
JO> I preferred the tone of the 206 over the 180, but then I generally
JO> go for a pretty big bass.
I hear you. I like a deep, feel-it-in-your-gut type bass as well.
JO> Both instruments had a very unusual tone to my ear. They had a
JO> "bell-like" quality to them.
I played two of them recently; a 180 and one 206. Like you, I liked
the tone of the 206 better.
But the problem I always have is that a piano's sound sort of gets
"lost" in a big room, and I'll be damned if I can really "hear" them
properly. I'm always left with the feeling that I don't _really_ know
what they sound like. (I also have trouble playing a piano in that
sort of environment, because I feel like I'm missing a lot of
subtleties that I'm used to hearing in a smaller space.)
JO> I gather that the higher harmonics were almost completely surprised
JO> so pretty much all
(I'm assuming that's a typo for suppressed) - I will listen again with
that observation in mind.
Thanks for the opinion!
- steve
NSDuncan
>manufacturers still under family control.
B.S. The salesmen always want to say "The German piano I sell is the only one
still under family control", implying that makes it better than the others that
are held by ruthless uncaring outsiders. Actually besides Seiler, Bluthner,
August Foerster, and Grotrian also are under family control. There may be
others, but I know that these are.
Niles Duncan
John S. Gray
hammers, regardless of which name (i.e. Abell or somone else) is on the
hammer.
Mind you, I'd give my eye teeth for Niles' Forster, or for a new Ibach
F4-240, any day.
JG
Nick Bell
Jory Olson
>Seiler 206: Great piano, but 7 out of 10 leave the factory with rock-hard
>hammers, regardless of which name (i.e. Abell or somone else) is on the
>hammer.
I'm not sure why the density of the hammers should make any difference to
anybody. I fully understand the relationship between the hammer density and
the sound quality, but I couldn't possibly care less if the hammers are
hard, like on a Yamaha, Schimmel, or Petrof, or soft, like on a Steinway, as
long as I like the sound they produce. I can't imagine rejecting a piano
with a sound I like because the hammers are too hard.
In my earlier posting about the Seiler 180 and 206 I should have included
the fact that neither piano projects very well. I could not get the kind of
big, growling, picture rattling sound I wanted from either instrument.
I also failed to mention that the Sauter models are warmer and project a
little better than the Seiler. In order, from pure, bell-like, and sweet to
dark, mellow, and complex I would place them in this order: Seiler, Sauter,
Schimmel, Petrof, Bluthner.