All About Choosing and Buying Pianos

[Dreamaurora]

NICKW:

Dreamaurora:

Okay, I am going to post some brief reviews of pianos I tested on Robert Piano's Centerpoint branch last week. Note that all the pianos I tested were brand new and as such my opinions should not be applied to 2nd hand models of the same models.


First, the Kawai pianos.

Kawai K2
Made in Indonesia. An entry level Kawai costing around 5K+. The feel and sound is strangely very unKawai like and more Yamaha instead. In fact, if I've never seen the brand, I would have thought it was a Yamaha instead. Touch is not heavy and sound is bright and sweet. Easy to play and easy to get good tone out it. You may want to get this if you like Yamaha sound but die die want to get Kawai instead.

Kawai KX
Made in China. Another entry level Kawai costing around 5K also. I prefer this to the K2 as the tone is closer to Japanese Kawai. Sound is semi dark and sweet. It is not that easy to play but not that hard to play also. Good choice as a 1st piano.

Kawai K3
Made in Japan. The direct rival to Yamaha's U1. In terms of build quality, action and tone I think K3 is superior to its Yamaha counterpart. But the catch is like most Japan Kawai it needs some decent technique to produce good tone out of it since by default the K3 sounds quite dark and a bit dull. So the question is K3 or U1? K3 will be more suitable for students who are more serious and want to achieve a wider variety of tonal control whereas U1 will appeal to students who want to enjoy practicing and playing more.

Kawai K8
Made in Japan. The spiritual successor to Kawai's K80. Direct rival to Yamaha's YUS5. The tone of this piano is even darker than K3, but the sound is significantly fuller and the action more refined. And compared to YUS5, it actually sounds like a grand. But the learning curve for this piano is even higher than K3 and I would definitely recommend this piano for serious students as this piano can last all the way to the diplomas. I never had any problem playing on actual grand pianos because I feel K8/K80s are actually even harder to play. But if you don't want to turn every practice session into a mighty struggle with the piano you may want to consider YUS5 instead which is definitely a more fun piano to play. I personally own a K80 and I love it and still practice on it everyday.

Kawai GM10
Made in Indonesia. The budget baby grand model in Kawai's lineup. This piano puzzles me. The action and tone are actually inferior to K8. The one I played in the showroom had floaty actions that just make finer details almost impossible to achieve. I did feedback to the salesman about this and hopefully this is just a tuning issue. But as for now, I would not recommend this piano at all and would advise students to either stick to the cheaper K8 upright grand or top up more for RX1.

Kawai RX1
Made in Japan. The first model in the the professional RX series and its direct rival would be Yamaha C1. This piano represents a significant step up from the K8. The tone is a perfect blend of darkness and sweetness and the actions are very precise. I smiled when I played it as the piano understood all my musical intentions and executed them exactly as I heard them in my mind. Definitely a worthy investment for any serious students. Yamaha C1 is excellent as well, so the choice here will come down to personal preference of the tones.

Moutrie 121, 122, and 125
Made in China. I tried all three and each of them is quite different from one another. 121 has a dark tone that is very similar to K3 and K8. The action is good and the sound has good punch for its size. The downside is the same as K3 and K8; need to work to get good tone out of it. 122 and 125 are brighter and sweeter, but the two units I tested seemed to have some tone balance issues. The bass notes sounded hollow and I feedback this to the salesman to see if it can be fixed by tuning. For a cheap price of 4K+, you can get Moutrie 121, which is a very attractive alternative for K3. Good choise as 1st piano for students who are more hardworking.

Hi Dreamaurora,

Between Hailun & Moutrie, which do you think has better action and tone ?

I am not sure as I have only visited pianomaster once. But from what i can recall i would say they are on par. The 121 is better than hailun entry model and hailun higher ends are better than 122 or 125. When i visit pianomaster again i will test them more thoroughly.

[NICKW]

Thanks for the info, Dreamaurora

[estee1819]

Hi

Anyone can advise me if i should get a 2nd hand piano at this stage ? my gal is into 2nd term of yamaha junior course. My budget is not exceeding $4k and her piano teacher advises to get between 10 to 15 yrs piano as according to her 20yr piano keys may not be as stable for beginner.

[cool_hi]

hi, need to ask a question which may sound silly

Can we put books on top of piano?
Previously on bookshelves but need clear space for other books
thus want to put some piano books, like around 20+ books(majority thin ones, a few thick ones), on top of piano, in a row using bookends..
not sure is it ok? is it too heavy for the piano?

thanks!

[peanut_butter]

I've seen teachers put tons of books on their pianos. So far their piano is working fine. I guess it's ok.

[rinakurniadi]

Dreamaurora:

Okay, I am going to post some brief reviews of pianos I tested on Robert Piano's Centerpoint branch last week. Note that all the pianos I tested were brand new and as such my opinions should not be applied to 2nd hand models of the same models.


First, the Kawai pianos.

Kawai K2
Made in Indonesia. An entry level Kawai costing around 5K+. The feel and sound is strangely very unKawai like and more Yamaha instead. In fact, if I've never seen the brand, I would have thought it was a Yamaha instead. Touch is not heavy and sound is bright and sweet. Easy to play and easy to get good tone out it. You may want to get this if you like Yamaha sound but die die want to get Kawai instead.

Kawai KX
Made in China. Another entry level Kawai costing around 5K also. I prefer this to the K2 as the tone is closer to Japanese Kawai. Sound is semi dark and sweet. It is not that easy to play but not that hard to play also. Good choice as a 1st piano.

Kawai K3
Made in Japan. The direct rival to Yamaha's U1. In terms of build quality, action and tone I think K3 is superior to its Yamaha counterpart. But the catch is like most Japan Kawai it needs some decent technique to produce good tone out of it since by default the K3 sounds quite dark and a bit dull. So the question is K3 or U1? K3 will be more suitable for students who are more serious and want to achieve a wider variety of tonal control whereas U1 will appeal to students who want to enjoy practicing and playing more.

Kawai K8
Made in Japan. The spiritual successor to Kawai's K80. Direct rival to Yamaha's YUS5. The tone of this piano is even darker than K3, but the sound is significantly fuller and the action more refined. And compared to YUS5, it actually sounds like a grand. But the learning curve for this piano is even higher than K3 and I would definitely recommend this piano for serious students as this piano can last all the way to the diplomas. I never had any problem playing on actual grand pianos because I feel K8/K80s are actually even harder to play. But if you don't want to turn every practice session into a mighty struggle with the piano you may want to consider YUS5 instead which is definitely a more fun piano to play. I personally own a K80 and I love it and still practice on it everyday.

Kawai GM10
Made in Indonesia. The budget baby grand model in Kawai's lineup. This piano puzzles me. The action and tone are actually inferior to K8. The one I played in the showroom had floaty actions that just make finer details almost impossible to achieve. I did feedback to the salesman about this and hopefully this is just a tuning issue. But as for now, I would not recommend this piano at all and would advise students to either stick to the cheaper K8 upright grand or top up more for RX1.

Kawai RX1
Made in Japan. The first model in the the professional RX series and its direct rival would be Yamaha C1. This piano represents a significant step up from the K8. The tone is a perfect blend of darkness and sweetness and the actions are very precise. I smiled when I played it as the piano understood all my musical intentions and executed them exactly as I heard them in my mind. Definitely a worthy investment for any serious students. Yamaha C1 is excellent as well, so the choice here will come down to personal preference of the tones.

Moutrie 121, 122, and 125
Made in China. I tried all three and each of them is quite different from one another. 121 has a dark tone that is very similar to K3 and K8. The action is good and the sound has good punch for its size. The downside is the same as K3 and K8; need to work to get good tone out of it. 122 and 125 are brighter and sweeter, but the two units I tested seemed to have some tone balance issues. The bass notes sounded hollow and I feedback this to the salesman to see if it can be fixed by tuning. For a cheap price of 4K+, you can get Moutrie 121, which is a very attractive alternative for K3. Good choise as 1st piano for students who are more hardworking.

[ACFC]

Dear all


I would like to know whether it is a must for upright pianos like the Yamaha U1 to be placed against a wall (with some allowance between the wall and piano) or can it be placed near the centre of the living room with no wall but with a sofa set against the soundboard (with some allowance)? Thanks in advance.

[sautille]

Just to share my brief encounter with Yamaha U3 and YUS1 last week.


In terms of pricing, they cost almost the same: U3 at promotional price of $10.9K while YUS1, $11K. This promotion ends on 22 July.

U3 has a very bright upper register and quite a sonorous bass. The tone is pretty rounded and the action reasonably responsive. The touch is a tad too light for my liking though. With good techniques, the piano can sing quite beautifully. Given its height, the chords sound full. My personal take is that U3 is a good piano but for some reasons, it did not "wow" me.

YUS1 is 10cm shorter than U3 but is quite capable of producing big sound (relative to your room size, that is). The upper register is slightly mellower than U3 and sounds less harsh. It has no problem producing full and sonorous chords. What surprises me is the singing tone of YUS1 and the super fast action - the quickest I have tried in pianos in this price range.

Anybody here in this forum owns a YUS1? Care to share your experience, especially after you have played on it for a few years?

Many thanks!

[iRabbit]

ACFC:

Dear all


I would like to know whether it is a must for upright pianos like the Yamaha U1 to be placed against a wall (with some allowance between the wall and piano) or can it be placed near the centre of the living room with no wall but with a sofa set against the soundboard (with some allowance)? Thanks in advance.

No it's not a must that upright pianos be placed against a wall. I've seen one piano placed right smack down the center between the living and dining area. In fact by doing this, I believe the sound of the piano will resonate better, especially to those sitting on the sofa.

I guess the reason such placement is not popular is that the visually aesthetic part of an upright is always at the front. As for the back, err .....

[rinakurniadi]

I went to yamaha and kawai a few days back. i found kawai sounds more calm, less harsh. like yamaha, kawai also having gss promo now. K6 (131 cm) is now 11.6k. it has a sweet, petite, lady like sound. but the touch… i think petrof is still better…