Intermusic, a piano seller based in England, lists the Academy 116 upright model at Ô£8,999 (currently about $17,910).

Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Bechstein founded the firm in 1853. From the 1860s to the First World War, production of Bechstein pianos accelerated quickly, jumping from 300 to 5,000 annually; they became and remained the most popular make among Europe's leading pianists.

In 1933 the firm introduced its 'neo-Bechstein,' in which only one or two strings were used for each note and electrical amplification and reproduction replaced a traditional soundboard. A normal sustaining pedal was paired with another that controlled the instrument's volume. The 'neo-Bechstein' was dropped due to a lack of demand.

Despite the factory's demolition during the Second World, production resumed in 1951. In 1963, the American firm Baldwin purchased Bechstein and later sold it in 1987; in 1992, Bechstein took over production of Zimmerman pianos.