Steinway Spirio Tuning & Maintenance
Steinway used to have a saying:
“If it has a cord, it isn’t a Steinway”
With the introduction of the Steinway Spirio reproducer system, Steinway has once again joined the “corded” world. This isn’t, however, Steinway’s first foray into powered pianos. Their renowned Reproducing Grand Pianos in the 1920s were some of the most sophisticated players of the day, and costas much as a small house. They were not the first to create reproducing pianos, but they certainly made sure the system lived up to their reputation as piano builders. And you had to plug them in.
In 2016 Steinway introduced its Spirio player piano system, followed by the Spirio | r featuring a recording capability. Until then, Yamaha had the only factory designed and installed piano automation system specifically engineered for their brand (Bösendorfer had a system designed in the 80s, but they are now owned by Yamaha and utilize the Disklavier PRO system).
The nice thing about maintaining factory systems is the engineering. Unlike after-market systems which are installed with varying degrees of expertise, these systems are engineered for these specific pianos and designed to be serviced. However, all players have one problem in common:
Player pianos are used up to 10x as much as the typical piano.
Even a heavily used home piano might only be played 1 hour per day on average. Compare that to a hospital or hotel lobby piano being played 24/7, and we find that the institutional piano has a lot more wear and tear than the home piano. While the player system keeps moving the keys, the piano mechanism falls out of adjustment, forcing the player mechanism to work harder to accurately reproduce the recordings. In some cases the system shuts down to protect it from overheating. Regularly servicing these pianos - especially during the first few years of ownership - helps protect this investment.
Steinway’s Spirio system is unique in several ways. First of all, it is currently only available in their flagship Steinway line; the Boston and Essex brands are not outfitted with reproducers.
It is also completely invisible; even the power cord is cleverly routed through a leg.
Lastly they have created seamless integration into your network. Utilizing a built in router, the WiFi setup is simply easier than most other systems, which is wonderful. It even allows for remotely accessing the system to diagnose problems early on.
But probably the biggest advantage Steinway has over anyone else is the most obvious one: It’s a Steinway. While that has a connotation of luxury, Steinway branded pianos are institutional strength pianos built for decades of reliable service.
But just because you own one of the most sophisticated app driven player piano systems in the world, doesn’t mean it can maintain itself. Regular tunings (3x per year initially), calibration and piano/player adjustments will ensure that your piano will “burn in” well, and that it will wear evenly. If a player or piano action component is slightly misaligned, some components can wear like a car tire. Unfortunately, this car has 88 tires, and a lot of parts involved in the alignment. While this is usually easy to catch in time, the accelerated burn-in time for player pianos means a lot can change between appointments. Hence we like to see a piano 3-4 times in the first 2-3 years of ownership, eventually tapering down to 2x per year.
If you’d like to make an appointment for a Spirio Service, please feel free to call me as well. I’m always up for a discussion on these marvels.
