All About Choosing and Buying Pianos

[Haydn]

Kohler and Campbell is owned by Samick and is made in Korea. 8800 might as well buy a new Yamaha U1 or Kawai K3.

[reddiechan]

crazylake:

Chiu also recommended Kohler & Campbell for 8800, just in case any one here had tested before, any review? whether a good buy?

K&C at 8800 should be the 131 version. The sound quality (esp bass notes) are better than U1. Mechanism-wise would be subjective to player. At the same price, it would be a good choice based on price, if you intend to keep it for a long time. For good resale value, U1 still stands out. However, that's a large portion of cash gone. I like Hailun HL125 for the price you get, and the bass notes are considerably good. K&C 131 is a beauty too. I nearly bought it. Most China pianos are quite sick, except Hailun.

[BabyE]

Haydn:

Don't buy U1J. It's made in indonesia. Not comparable to a made in Japan U1. For 5-7k you can buy a 10 yr or less Japan made U1, this is what i'll recommend. 20 year old U1 can be bought at around 4k from dealers or even less from private sellers on the net.

Thank you for yr quick reply. The 6 year warranty n 2 time tuning service is very attractive if buy direct from shop. On top of it with 5%rebates using Maybank. :roll:

Anyone out there have one to sell? Pls pm me. Thanks.

[peanut_butter]

HL125 is super-value for money (unless they rise the price again).

But do not expect the sound quality to stay tops forever. It will deteriorate over years.

[crazylake]

Thanks all for the comments, sounds that hl125 is a good buy for a starter. Then change after experience, since they have that buy back policy

[reddiechan]

crazylake:

Thanks all for the comments, sounds that hl125 is a good buy for a starter. Then change after experience, since they have that buy back policy

If you do choose Hailun, here's something you can consider asking - request for at at least 2 pianos to choose from, and go try out the pianos before committing. Not all pianos are created equal

[lwzh]

I want to sell my yamaha U1 piano.


It is a firsthand five-year old piano (made in Japan). Every year two times tuning from Yamaha prefessional technitian. Well maintained. Only my son use it for practice (use it since he was five years old).

Now the price for a new same model piano is above 9000 dollars. I am asking around 6000 dollars (negotiable). If you are interested in it, please PM me.

[CDE]

I was told that kawaii K3 is not good enough to practice until diploma. Diploma will need a YUS5 or equivalent. Is it true? Anyone can clarify? TIA.

[jce]

Of course the better the piano, the more you can get in terms of dynamics, colour, clarity as the piano is more sensitive and will react to tiny adjustments of the player. Having said that there is no hard and fast rule. I have seen diploma students who practice on pianos that are not even of U1 standard and still fare well in the exam. So it is more of the pianist than of the tool. That’s what I feel personally

[CDE]

jce:

Of course the better the piano, the more you can get in terms of dynamics, colour, clarity as the piano is more sensitive and will react to tiny adjustments of the player. Having said that there is no hard and fast rule. I have seen diploma students who practice on pianos that are not even of U1 standard and still fare well in the exam. So it is more of the pianist than of the tool. That's what I feel personally

Thanks jce for your input.
Currently I hv K3, but the thought that it may deprive my dd from doing well in higher grade bothers me. But to upgrade to YSU5 now, really costly. Furthermore, my K3 may not fetch good price too...so top up $$$ will be quite