Kazuo Kiuchi Demonstrated Never-Seen-Before Piano Tuning in Stereo Exhibition

Audience Astonished by the Piano’s Instant Sound Improvement

By/Hong-ching Pu

In Room 431 of Yuanshan Stereo Exhibition, 3 pm, August 9th, the master of sound-tuning, Kazuo Kiuchi, came all the way from Japan to hold an exhibition of Harmonix sound-tuning products. In the exhibition, Kiuchi explained his sound-tuning philosophy and demonstrated full sets of Reimyo equipment, Bravo speakers, and Harmonix tuning feet and cables.

However, the true climax is the demonstration of the tuning of a piano. Don’t be surprised by this, gentle readers. The main reason why Billion Music distributes Kiuchi’s products is because the owner of Billion Music, Hsing-yue Chang, is a vocalist herself, and she decided to distribute Kiuchi’s products after the latter tuned for her in her concert and improved the acoustics. As a musician, she knows what kind of sound can truly manifest the essence of music, and she was deeply amazed when Kiuchi’s tuning at her concert greatly improved the acoustics.

Therefore, for this year’s Yuanshan Stereo Exhibition, she decided to do a demonstration of piano tuning, which is what everyone looked forward to on August 9th.

The demonstration only lasted about 20 minutes. The pianist first performed in the “default” condition when no feet were used. Although the vertical Yamaha piano was not what you see in a performance hall, the small hotel room was still filled with bright sound of the piano. Then, a few people lifted up the piano, and Kiuchi placed four SF-200 tuning feet under the four wheels of the piano. Kiuchi said that these feet were originally designed for large speakers with wheels, and that is why the feet had the concave design, making them suitable for pianos.

An interesting thing happened when the same pianist played the same piece after the feet were installed. The sound of the piano did not just become clearer, the texture and power of the pianist’s touch on the keys also sounded better, and the dynamics of the sound became more significant. Compared to the original sound, the sound after tuning was more powerful and solid, and the audience in the room was deeply amazed on the improvements since the piano wasn’t moved, and the pianist played the piece the same way, but the sound after the feet were added was significantly more vibrant. If it wasn’t the SF-200, I wouldn’t know what it was.

The sound of the piano improved drastically with only two sets of feet. The master truly lives up to his reputation!

After the pianist finished playing, Kiuchi came up with another trick. He had TU-303 tuning feet placed beneath SF-200, and the pianist played the same piece again. The audience was greatly amazed by the result since the sound of the piano was again drastically improved. Besides the power, the sound became wider and deeper with more harmony. Compared to the first performance, the sound had been improved and reached a whole new level, matching the sound generated from a grand piano that you see in a concert hall. I personally believed the feet worked even better for the piano than they do for stereos. The audience in the room was surprised by the wonder and thought it was absolutely amazing.

Seeing how happy the audience was, Ms. Chang finally decided to sing a song called “The Moon Instrument.” This song has very high keys and is very difficult to sing; however, with the improved sound thanks to the Harmonix tuning feet and the atmosphere in the room, Ms. Chang sang the song so well that it left the audience in awe. I can assure you that this is the first time in 18 Hi-End Stereo Exhibitions that the boss of our distribution company sang with the accompaniment of a real musical instrument. Ms. Chang then gave an encore performance singing “Amazing Grace” before this delightful and vibrant “Kiuchi Tuning Show” came to a conclusion.

Although I myself use Kiuchi’s sound-tuning products on a regular basis, I have never tried them on a piano. The unique sound-tuning show held by Billion Music this time has not only wowed the live audience but also myself. Kiuchi’s products have basically been promoted to the “instrument” level! Are there any more doubts how they would perform on stereos?

All types of feet carefully designed by Kiuchi.	You can tell how successful the tuning of the piano was just by seeing how happy Chang looked (right) when singing.

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