Today's Steinway: they are still made like before... only better!

Steinway & Sons continues to improve appearance, touch, tone, structural stability and every aspect of what makes a Steinway a Steinway. The pioneering artisanal working methods employed at the Hamburg factory since 1880 still guarantee the brand's uncompromising quality standards. The integration of this craftsmanship with ongoing development and significant investment in state-of-the-art technology has resulted in an instrument with the widest range of timbres by far and the most responsive touch ever. The tradition of continuous innovation in materials, design and production, guarantees that today's Steinway breaks the hitherto imaginable boundaries of Henry Steinway's credo "To build the best piano possible".

Up to 21 tonnes of string tension is constantly applied in a piano. It is the function of the cast iron frame to absorb this extraordinary force and provide strength and stability throughout the life of the piano.
Since 1998, Steinway & Sons has operated its own foundry in the US to manufacture the integral cast-iron frame to their own exacting specifications. The foundry forges the bell-quality slab with a new No-Bake process implemented just five years ago that enables a single-use high-strength mould that creates more accurate and consistent castings. In addition, Steinway has also implemented a revolutionary thermal recovery process. Moreover, new machines enable greater precision in milling the plate (down to 0.2 mm). Finally, their metallurgy lab has been modernised to further optimise the hardness and strength of the casting, virtually eliminating any potential deformations or cracks that might occur once the plate has been formed.

Exact precision is the hallmark of the action in a Steinway & Sons and essential to the legendary Steinway touch. The mechanism consists of thousands of parts meticulously assembled by highly skilled and highly trained craftsmen. More precise and accurate parts make the action more responsive.
For Steinway, it is essential that the manufacture of such important mechanism parts is in its own hands, so that top quality can be guaranteed every time. This is why Louis Renner, the leading manufacturer of piano mechanisms based in Germany, has been part of our company since 2019 and Steinway has full control over the quality of all parts.

In 2019, Steinway & Sons introduces the Harmonic Damper Setting - a special innovation developed for the Steinway & Sons concert grand piano D-274. It offers pianists new possibilities of expression and much more refinement when using the damper pedal (sustain pedal).

"This is the best damper system I've ever played on," he says. IGOR LEVIT

Martha Argerich, Jacob Karlzon, Grigory Sokolov and Igor Levit are just some of the world's greatest artists who are enthusiastic about this refreshing innovation. The Harmonic Damper Setting demonstrates the continuous improvement that distinguishes Steinway & Sons as a trendsetter and reference of the modern piano.