How Steinway Lyngdorf began, by Peter Lyngdorf’s own account, was almost an accident — a customer’s phone call rather than a business plan.
A customer’s phone call started it all
A Lyngdorf Audio customer, close to the owners and management of Steinway & Sons, called Lyngdorf simply because he was stunned by how convincingly his Lyngdorf system — freshly finished with RoomPerfect — reproduced a real piano. He asked whether Lyngdorf would be open to meeting Steinway & Sons. For Lyngdorf, there was no hesitation: Steinway & Sons, alongside Stradivarius, is one of the only brand names in music with that kind of standing, and Stradivarius has been gone for a century.
From a proof of concept to the Steinway name itself
A few months later, a visit to Steinway turned into a genuine conversation: the owners and management were interested in putting the Steinway name — not Steinway & Sons specifically — on an audio system, partly as a companion to a self-playing piano they had planned. Lyngdorf assembled his best engineers, and within a few months delivered a proof of concept, demonstrated in New York to strongly positive reactions. A handshake agreement followed, and development continued until a mock-up of what would become the Model D Steinway system was ready to present. The response from Steinway’s management, Lyngdorf recalls, was phenomenal — good enough that the CEO of Steinway & Sons offered to let the product carry the full Steinway & Sons name, the first time in 150 years of company history the brand had allowed that on anything that wasn’t a piano built in their own factory. That same design lineage eventually led to the Model B and the P300 processor.
A relationship that still requires their approval
That trust set the tone for everything since. Lyngdorf and his team still meet with Steinway a few times a year, and every new product released under the Steinway & Sons name still requires their sign-off — by now largely a formality, Lyngdorf says, since they know the standard will always be met. He still calls it an obligation as much as a privilege: every product has to be the best it can be.
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Frequently asked questions
How did the Steinway Lyngdorf collaboration begin?
A Lyngdorf Audio customer, connected to Steinway & Sons’ management, was so impressed by his system’s piano reproduction that he arranged an introduction between Peter Lyngdorf and Steinway.
Why did Steinway & Sons want an audio brand?
They wanted to expand the Steinway name beyond pianos, partly as a companion product to a self-playing piano they were developing at the time.
Is this the first time Steinway & Sons put their name on a non-piano product?
Yes — it was the first time in the company’s 150-year history that the Steinway & Sons name was used on a product not built in their own piano factory.
Does Steinway & Sons still approve new Steinway Lyngdorf products?
Yes, every new product under the name still requires their sign-off, though Lyngdorf describes it as largely a formality today.
