I guess concert pianists really do play harder in loud passages than
a normal person would.  But hard enough to break strings and hammers?
They shouldn't.

I bet if the repairs to the piano were coming out of the maestro's
pocket he'd either keep the orchestra down to where the piano could be
heard over it or he'd mic the piano.

 [ Beethoven and Liszt yearned for durable pianos and, by golly,
 [ the industry learned how to make loud and strong pianos.
 [ Where there's a need -- and a market -- a way will be found.
 [ Sadly, the mass market nowadays isn't interested in real pianos.
 [ -- Robbie

Maybe it would be a novelty to hear a concert grand with that kind of
power in a normal living room.  But I'm sure the novelty would wear off
quickly.  I used to own a Wheelock Duo-Art upright that I played the
roll "Some Sunday Morning" on, and the volume of that particular roll
would want to drive you out of the room.  I can't imagine what having
a 9-foot grand crashing around in there would be like.

I don't believe for a minute that having a concert grand banging out at
the higher end of the vacuum level is going to be supremely pleasurable
to listen to, especially with a beefed up Ampico system to make it even
louder than a normal piano.  The pleasure of listening to a reproducing
system to me is to hear the subtleties of expression.  There are some
rolls that sound like there are 3 and 4 different levels of volume
going on in the roll.  Kind of like the way Lawrence Welk's orchestra
used to have the melody going along and the clarinet section sort of
bubbling along underneath.

I still maintain that the larger soundboard area and the scale and tone
of a concert grand is more than adequate to give you the pleasurable
listening you are looking for in a home situation without resorting to
redesigning the system.

Tony Marsico