Digital piano for a university

[DoctorAl]

Having got my acoustic piano requirements nearly sorted, I'm also tasked with finding a suitable digital piano for our music technology dept. This will sit in a small lecture theatre (c.65 seats, low ceiling, little bigger than a typical UK school classroom) and humidity/temperature variations plus a lack of space dictate a digital. It needs to be loud enough without further amplification to fill the small lecture theatre without messing around with speakers. A pair of Genelec 8030s is more than enough for this task (bi-amped two-way, 40Wx2) so I was looking for something with similar amps.

Obviously I'd like something that sounds good, multiple samples, string resonance, at least 64 note polyphonic in stereo, etc... no unnecessary bells or whistles. The piano will get used for only a few lectures each week, and some of those will be minimal usage, plus occasional practice use outside of normal hours, so it's not going to get absolutely hammered. I don't have a budget yet, but I don't want to pay the kind of price you can get a nice U3 for!

I'm looking at the new-ish Yamaha CLP-440 with interest. The last digital I owned was a Technics with about 12 note polyphony but a fairly decent speaker system. I've played more recent ones that have much better samples but much worse speakers.

So - anyone played a 440? Are they likely to have decent enough speakers for a classroom sized room? Should I or could I go up or down a model or two, depending on what the budget turns out to be? Any budget bargains out there?

thanks,

Al

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

This is probably no use but I have a CVP 309 coming in soon in part-exchange from someone who is buying a Yamaha U1. The CVP 309 was apparently replaced by the CVP 509 which retails at over £5500
http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/yamaha-cvp509.html

The part-ex CVP309 can be very cheap. I don't think I can put prices on here so please email me at markgoodwinpianos@gmail.com if you think this might be of interest.

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

p.s. I have no idea about digital pianos. I don't if the one I mentioned would be suitable or not.

[maccolliens]

I think i have no idea about digital piano for a university. You check the online shop and other colleges and university where this type of instrument use.

[markymark]

If you only need the instrument for a few lectures a week, would you not consider something more portable or light weight such as a Yamaha P-155?

[DoctorAl]

If you only need the instrument for a few lectures a week, would you not consider something more portable or light weight such as a Yamaha P-155?

Ah, no. The amplification is inadequate for more than practice use, and we don't want something that will go walkabout, so something substantial is better. There's nowhere convenient to store it nearby so having something portable wouldn't actually work. We have a P-60 so have some experience with that kind of thing. The non-fixed pedal is always a problem as well, tends to drift with use.

There wasn't the budget for this in the end before the deadline so I have a chance to make a slightly more considered purchase.

Al

[athomik]

If the DP is supposed to be a substitute for an acoustic only for reasons of space, it might be worth looking at the Yamaha Avant Grand range. They should match your requirements and have the advantage of having an acoustic grand piano action, so the feel and touch is exactly the same as an acoustic piano.