My wife is a pianist who studied piano performance. We own a refurbished 1924 Steinway and we love it.
I’ve gotten the chance to play and hear many Steinways and a few Mason and Hamlins. My favorite piano I’ve ever heard was a 1920s Mason and Hamlin that was owned by my wife’s piano professor.
For us it seemed like the only way to get the kind of piano we wanted to own was to find one of the “golden era” pianos from the 1920s and refurbish it or find one that had been refurbished. It’s a lot of work so it’s expensive to do, but still a ton cheaper than buying a newer piano, and the sound and quality of the 1920s pianos can be excellent.
There is a notable lack of great piano technicians and tuners. We have an amazing one, but everyone else we have tried cannot make the instrument sing like he can. Some have been downright terrible. There is such an art to really getting the individual strings within a note in tune with each other to the level where the sound waves line up and sustain one another rather than canceling each other out and killing off the note quickly. My tuner says that most tuners don’t even know the difference or that it’s even a thing, and I believe him.
I hope the art of piano tuners and technicians doesn’t completely die off. It would be easy to see that happen.