Hi Brad and MMD friends.  Which piano system is best for you?
When I started out in this wonderful hobby, I started with two upright
foot-pumped 88-note players.  I love them and still do, but soon
I discovered the reproducers and felt it was time to graduate to them.

I asked many friends in the hobby, and the question was, "Which
system should one get?"  Here is basically the answer to that question:
it depends on the type of music that you like best...

1. If you like purely classical music, then by all means the Welte
systems, either T-100, Red Welte, or Green Welte, or the Welte licensee
is the top choice for classical music as Welte had all the great
pianists and composers of music record for them.  To me the Welte
popular music is not as impressive as the other two systems.  (Well,
didn't we say we wanted a little riot here?  ;-)

2. If you like both classical and popular music, the next best system
to get is the Duo-Art as they have great classical music and the
popular music is very great as well.  (Brad, I think this is the one
that fits your question best)

3. If you like purely popular music then the Ampico system is the best.
They do have great classical, but some of the classical is jazzed up
a little, and they have an extensive popular music with great artists.

> Which system has the most music rolls available (both old rolls
> and recuts)?

1. Ampico was the best at marketing and the number one in sales, and
there are more Ampico rolls available, both in old originals and recuts,
than any of the other systems, lots of them with the various roll
people.  See the links in the MMD web site.  (This is time to practice
searching the MMD Archives and link section.)

2. Duo-Art was the number two system in sales and while Duo-Art rolls
are a little harder to find, they are out there as well.  See Ampico
above.  Also, eBay is another great source of rolls.

3. Welte, while advertising that they were in over 100 brands of
pianos, just did not have the marketing in the U.S. that the other two
companies did, and World War One did not help out matters either.  They
were number three in the systems.  All types of Welte rolls are very
hard to find and come by.  We do have many people making new recuts
and so look in the MMD links.  Enjoy looking it over!

> What are the positives and negatives of each system?  Which system
> is most lifelike in it's reproduction?  Which piano system has the
> most range?

Quite frankly, I think all three systems are just about equal.  The
only negative is my Welte which has major humidity problems in the
winter (which might because my Welte was restored in California by
a person who had never done a reproducer in his life and messed it up
and did not do a good job).  All three systems I think are very
lifelike and all three have great range.  I would really give them
all equal marks.

Several years ago, I heard an Art Echo system in a very 'plain Jane'
piano that would just astound you in its performance and beat out
any of the other three systems in both the performance and sound.

Which piano?  For Ampico: Best: Mason & Hamlin; Second best: Knabe
and the Chickering.

For Duo-Art: Best: Steinway and the Weber are equal; Second best:
George Steck

For Welte: Best: Charles Steiff and the Baldwin

What size piano?  In a grand piano, get the largest you can find and
preferably an art case piano.  Although some art case pianos may look
pretty, they are not always the best sounding.  Some plain case,
'plain Jane' pianos can beat some Steinway pianos any day of the week.

For an upright, see the MMD archives and see what I wrote and others
wrote about uprights.  Very informative.

Frankly, if room is not a problem, then why not acquire all three
systems and if you have more room, get some of the other systems such
as the Art Echo/Apollo and the Artrio Angelus.  Each system has great
roll selections, but some rolls may be harder to find.

Best of luck with your search and I hope this is helpful to all.

Musically,

Larry Norman - from the Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Blue sky today, but rain and ice on the way.