Steinway Model D Overview

The Model D is Steinway’s concert grand, the full-size nine-foot piano you see on concert platforms around the world. At 8 feet 11¾ inches it is the largest piano Steinway makes, and the standard against which concert grands are judged.

What it is for

The Model D is built to fill a concert hall without amplification, and to give a soloist the range of colour and power a great performance needs. It is not a domestic piano. In a normal room it is simply too big and too loud, and you lose much of what you are paying for. Its home is the concert stage, the recording studio, the conservatoire, and the largest private music rooms.

Size and space

At nearly nine feet long, it needs a room to match, with the floor space and height for the sound to open up. As a rough rule, think of a room at least five to six metres long before a Model D makes sense.

New and used prices

A new Model D is well into six figures. Steinway does not publish UK prices, but the order of things is around £180,000 or more. See our new Steinway price guide. Used, the Model D covers a huge range depending on age and rebuild, from roughly the price of a new small grand for an older example needing work, up to six figures for a well-restored or newer one. Our used Steinway price guide has the bands.

A more realistic choice for most homes

Very few homes suit a Model D. If you have fallen for the concert-grand sound but have a normal room, a Model B at just under seven feet, or a smaller Steinway, will serve you far better. And if the budget is the sticking point, a reconditioned Yamaha C-series grand gives you a lot of the same character for far less. We are glad to talk it through.