Upright piano with silent option

frontier · Post by **frontier** » 05 Feb 2007, 15:46

Hi there,

I am looking for an upright piano with a silent option and my budget is about £4k.

What's your opinion about Kemble Oxford 12?

thanks,
Paul

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 05 Feb 2007, 16:19

I like the new Oxford. Better finished than the old Oxford 10, nicely voiced to European tastes (at long last) and available in a nice range of finishes, although I am informed that the nicest finish of all, Georgian Mahogany Lustre, is to be discontinued. A great shame, since standard Satin Mahogany (open pore) is probably the least attractive finish on the market today. Still, you've always got the Cherry, Beech, and the Polyesters to choose from.

The Silent option is great. Well integrated, MIDI equipped (unlike the short-changing, penny-pinching Yamaha b-series Silents) and very useful. Makes tuning in the lower treble a bit difficult due to inadequate wedging-room, but that's one for us techies to worry about. You just buy one and get on with enjoying it!!

PG

frontier · Post by **frontier** » 05 Feb 2007, 17:32

Thank you for your comment, PianoGuy.

Just to let you know, I am a beginner with 1 year experience, mainly on Yamaha Digital Piano (can't remember the model

) and due to my increasing interest in playing I wish to invest in something better. Oxford 12 sounds great to me in both ways, however I don't have experience and knowledge to decide.

Do you know any similar model I could compare?

Keeping in mind I am a beginner, for how long Oxford 12 will last for me?

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 05 Feb 2007, 20:44

frontier wrote: Do you know any similar model I could compare?

Keeping in mind I am a beginner, for how long Oxford 12 will last for me?

If you want cheaper, there's the aforementioned b1 and b2 Silent models. Indonesian built and marginally flimsier construction (especially on the polyester finishes, where plastics comprise a significant part of the casework) and the (extra cost!!!) option of a totally revolting 'mahogany' polyester finish which is both artificial-looking and cloudy. Stick to black. Worst of all, a very much slimmed-down Silent unit with cheapened controls, poor headphones, and a budget installation made even more untidy by having no cable-routing. You have to plug both power cable and 'phones into the console rather than in to a dedicated socket in the piano body. The muting system is less elaborate than pricier models, but it does the same thing. Worst of all, there's no MIDI. A terrible shame since the pianos are actually rather good, being effectively a Jakarta-built version of the 112cm design used by the Kemble Oxford 12 with less good casework and hammers.

At slightly extra cost, there's the very good British built Yamaha P114NTS and the excellent P121NTS at more still. Both of these come from the Kemble factory, so no difference in build to the Oxford, the advantage best observed in the 121 model with its extra height and soundboard area.

All of the above will suffice up to Grade 8 with no real problems, but you'd probably hanker for something better by grade 6 if you went for the b1/b2. It all depends how critical you become, and how much you use the acoustic piano, since the Silent sound is identical in all models.