Hi Lowyat Forumers,

I am in the midst of searching a good piano for my children piano education .
As i am not a pianist your valuable input is most appreciated.
I am now considering this two new pianos the yamaha U1J made in Indonesia and
and Kawai KX21 made in China. Which one do you prefer. I do notknow where is a shop
that display this model side by side for comparison. It is a tough choice for me.
In US they will compare the U1 japan vs K3 japan. is th K3 same with thr KX21?

Your honest input is most appreciated but please do not mention analogy to a Toyota and Honda.
It will not help me but rather your comment on sound, playability, the qualityor service of the local distributor is most appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

between these 2 pianos, it will be best that you bring someone who can play and you judge for yourself. both are diff designed instruments thus they will have it's own tone characteristic. although both of these piano, imo, have bright tone, kawai will be a little bit mellow than the yamaha. touch wise, imo, kawai will b a little heavier. since tone and touch are very subjective, the final decision - personal preference. do not worry both are well established brand in the market and the best companies coming out from japan.

kx 21, as i know this model should be a discounted model. kx series is oem by hsinghai beijing. and in the past kawai does have some little ups and downs working with them in production issues, since kawai have no full control of this factory. now, kawai have a new factory in indonesia, in 2005 kawai closed its north carolina factory, i believe there will be a new model replacing the kx - mid-entry level models. on the other hand, there is still kawai made in china by parson. however this model solely sold in china only.

in the us, yes u1 and k3 are both better models in their portfolio. while kx and k series are from kawai, they are two diff pianos altogether, in terms of designed and materials. k series have millennium iii action, better soundboard material, and etc.

u1 is the popular model of the yamaha. u1j is made in indonesia and share the same scale design as the u1 (japan). yamaha been making pianos in indonesia for more than 20 years and adherse to the same qualtiy standard as its japanese plant. however, imo, there is big diff between the u1j and u1 in quality sound. imo, largerly due to materials diff between the indonesia and japan and workmanship...

on the other hand, other than these 2 marques, there are other choices and yet affordable in the market today. but if you have done your homework and ended up with this 2 fav. pianos, then the best bet would be to choose the one that sings to you well. u wont go wrong with either one of these makers.

otherwise, check out some other brands too likes (in no order), Ed. Seiler, Hailun, Irmler, Ritmuller (Premium), Weinbach, Wagner, Challen, C. Steinbert, Young Chang, Weber, Samick, Pearl River.

or you can check this link out for reference.
Performance and Intermediate Graded Pianos http://www.pianobuyer.com/spring13/44.html
Consumer Graded Pianos: http://www.pianobuyer.com/spring13/45.html

This post has been edited by jhp: Mar 25 2013, 04:52 PM

May I ask is your children just starting to learn and still in the trying to develop interest phase? If yes, I wouldn't suggest acoustic pianos just yet as they are more expensive and need frequent maintenance. I would suggest a digital piano which goes for just around 3k for a decent one, and just plug and play without much hassle Speaking from a piano beginner myself.

Thanks JHP for your greath thorough explaination. Really appreciate it. My daughter is currently now using the yamaha electric piano for practice. We were being advise by the music teacher to invest in an acoustic piano to further enhance the ever fast learning ability of my daughter. I personally agreed what she said after observing my daughter play the acoustic piano.
IMHO kawai are overprice in malaysia compare with yamaha piano. In other countries kawais are cheaper than yamaha. I might be wrong

hmm... i believe kawai is less expensive than a yamaha, of similar height. unless u r comparing with the K series (made in japan) to a U1J (Indonesia) then the comparison will not be fair for yamaha since the kawai K series is diff designed and better and more $$$. on the other hand if you comparing with Yamaha U or YU (japan) to a Kawai KX (china), then the comparison will not be fair for kawai, since the yamaha U/YU is better built, better material and more $$$. it is important to compare the same class of piano.. or it would be like comparing an apple with an orange... do note that yamaha and kawai make varies range of models; from low entry, medium entry and high quality pianos. ie like car sorry try to avoid this . is just like a honda; city->jazz->civic->accord->legend->nsx

imo, a K series should be comparing with U and YU series upright (from japan). generally, yamaha will be little more expensive than a kawai.

if not mistaken yamaha u1j (jakarta) 21K versus kawai kx21 - 17K. this price may have changed overtime., u gotta check again.. and, during sale, u1j would be selling for 17K and kawai kx21 - 15k...

This post has been edited by jhp: Mar 25 2013, 04:42 PM

First of all. You have to determine your budget. How much you tend to invest into your kids music education. getting a piano is big and take alot of space. Why not just get a secondhand Yamaha and Kawai to try up first. Until maybe grade 5 or 6, you see that your kids have the potential of advance music education, get a better piano by then. With the new and expensive pianos made in Indonesia and China do not apprehend the quality and the craftmanship.

It would be great if you could come to some of my showrooms to check out the different characteristic of tone, brands and model. Do PM me if you have any questions related to piano.

Do have a great day!

Thanks for the enlightenment on the prices...

Where is your showroom? Will your second hand piano better than the two pianos mentioned above? A bad sounding piano will cause a child to lose intrest easily. They are not inspired with the sound they played. I dont want to buy just for the sake of a piano with a black box with 88 keys on it.Worst I have to bear the sound when my children practse on it. I believe it will many years to come......

There are many piano shops that you can go to. I have PM you about my favourite Piano shop which has the best selection of pianos for you to choose from.

wow...so many people PM me asking where the Piano shop is! hehehe....ok ok . Pls feel free to PM me some more. I will reply you there hehehe...

Thank you so much for your opinions. We stumble upon a used petrof 125 that my daughter love so muc.Our family agreed thst it is better sounding than the k& y that we have audition. I like the sound and the color as they do not resemble like black coffin in the living room. We bought on the spot.

This post has been edited by HoyHoySum: Mar 31 2013, 08:38 AM

Congrats!

good choice....

now is time to take care of the piano and if you do, you have many years of pleasure and joy...

1) <important> maintain a stable humidity within the range 42-65% throughout the year
2) tune the piano; minimum 2 times a year
3) regulate the piano; minimum once every 2-3 years
4) voice the piano, if necessary

Thanks empire & jhp. Yup will surely take good care of it and btw the manual states that this piano will last minimum 100 years if well taken care of.
IMHO i find that the petrof sound clear. The K&Y sounds like coming out from a box. Analogy to a box speaker, the K&Y kinda like a mistuned box or out of alignment wherby the box speaker sounds boxy wherelse the petrof sounded like a good hifi speaker. There is no coloration of box sound. This is my initial impression when testing the pianos in the same show room.

the outlook is always the same from one brand to another but in reality they are diff in scale design, materials, construction, etc... thus no piano will sound the same. every piano will have its own distinct sound characteristic and as a human we have our personal preference as to how it sound like, play like and etc.. even 2 pianos coming from a same manufacturer will never sound the same...

imo, piano can last for an avg 2-3 generations, provided that piano is taken care. not the regular tuning etc, but HUMIDITY control. wood is an hygrosopic materials; hyro = something to do with water/moisture and scopic = ability to react to humidity. if humidity is NOT properly maintain, the wood cells will undergo a permanent crushing (compression set), and the stress cause by repeated swings in humidity, the soundboard will be damaged. when this happen there is no more crowning and thus the piano will not be able to sing. on the other hand, piano is a mechanically driven box . that means inside the piano action consists of over 8000 moving parts with cloth, felt and leather. in which overtime they need to be replace due to age and wear/tear, subject to playing and of coz, humidity.

you lucky to have 3 established brands, side by side and in this case it will be very easy to hear the diff. many times piano buyer will have to travel one shop to another to try the diff. believe it or not, they forget how's the sound on the earlier piano when they visit next shop.. anways. there is nothing wrong with the K&Y sound. there will be others who like it; is just personal preference; diff type of music and etc..

your method buying this piano is the correct way because you paid the piano based on the tone and touch you like. at the end of the day, your investment will be well paid off. the fun, the joy that you and your family will enjoy, priceless

hv fun and take care of that humidity good humidity control increases the life span of a piano, better tuning and regulation stablility and pro-long the organic materials likes wood, felts, cloths, and leathers...

oh yeah.. RH in Malaysia on avg of 70% onwards, depending where you live, throughout the year.

This post has been edited by jhp: Apr 1 2013, 12:14 PM

Yeah forgot to mention that my daughter prefer the touch of piano so do a malay boy that gives a thumbs up in term of touch and tone. He was browsing with his parents for a new piano.
I agree that our humidity is high and very damaging to instrument and equipment. U restore old radios. Old sets of 20 years old im Malaysia looks like word war 2 radio set whilst us and german radiod even 40 years inpristine condition.
My expectation of this piano is to provide a tool for my daughter up to grade 8. I do no know how long it takes. If she wish to upgrade or further mudic studies she will have to bear her own self. Honestly i will discourage her but rather will encourage to take meds instead...

let see, not sure how many will agree to this. you dont need to become a concert pianist or a teacher just because you take piano lessons... the idea about learning music (irregardless of instruments) is about relaxation - to aid relaxation during stress and health reasoning, concentration - focus on particular activity over the long period of time, co-ordination - the improvement of eye and hand co-ordination, perserverance and patience - useful in life when handling difficult challenges in the future, and self-confidence - self expression and better communcation in life.

i believe, many professionals and/or successfull entrepreneurs, somehow, have music background..

This post has been edited by jhp: Apr 1 2013, 02:02 PM

100% agree on this

This post has been edited by fishly1010: Feb 5 2014, 11:09 AM

I heard the Yamaha U1J from my relative's daughter last time. The sound is not that good. Please try to listen and compare yourself, this is just my opinion.

Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend affordable new and use yamaha upright piano for my young kids to learn piano lesson, thanks a lot.