I don't know that the discussion the the destruction of the great old violins is irrelevant. We still have to deal with reproducing exactly what was laid down on the recording. I vote for SS or tubes like the amp Jef Larson built for me as being most honest. But then, if something else adds "live" or whatever else that adds to one's enjoyment of the music, go for it.

As for pianos, the history is different from the history of strings. Concert hall have always employed the latest and greatest pianos, relegating the old ones to museums. Today, even period performance forte-pianos are almost always copies, not originals.

The evolution of the piano has been on on making the instrument louder in order to keep up with the larger, louder orchestras and the ever larger concert halls. The piano of Mozart's day had 66 keys. Extra bass notes kept getting added to increase the size of the sounding board and therefore louder. The modern grand piano has 88 keys and goes down to A=28 Hz, but the Bosendorfer model 290, the "Imperial Concert Grand", has 97 keys an goes down to C=16 Hz. While a handful of composers have actually use the bottom notes, that's not why there are there. They are there to make the piano louder.

Bob

• Bosendorfer Model 290