Yamaha? Kawai? Other?

[spiltmilk_2000]

Hi all, Im a newbie here so please be gentle!

I'm pretty new to piano and have decided I want to take it a little more seriously starting with a new upright to replace my 80 year old barnes of london which seems to require tuning about every 25 minutes! However, its a minefield for the uninitiated so wanted to post a few questions and hope people could suggest some advice. here's a bit of background...

I have a budget of around £4k...ish... might be able to stretch it a bit for something that really floats my boat. I went to a showroom and tried a couple of yamahas and a Kawai k2. To my ear the Yamaha's just seemed a little too zingy and bright and i preferred the more mellow Kawai sound. However, the K2 didnt have quite the low end grunt that the budget busting K3 and Yamaha U3 has...

1. Are there any other brands to rival the kawai / yamahas in this price range that have the similar more mellow sound but a bit more low presence that I should try to audition? I have heard of things like kembles but dont know what to expect from them. What else should I check out?

2. If i was to find an older used Yamaha does that bright sound mellow as the strings age?

and the million dollar question...

3. I was interested to hear about the Kawai k2 Any Time pianos. As I generally dont get to play until the evenings (and have bare wooden floorboards and neighbours!) this idea appealed to me hugely. However, for the extra 1.5k this probably costs I cant help thinking I should just spend the extra money on the quality of the acoustic side of the piano rather than an electronic gimmik! I do have a roland RD 700 i can play at night if I really am that worried about the neighbours. So, what are peoples experience of AT pianos? Does it affect the action / acoustic sound at all? Would that extra money be better spent on something with better action, etc etc.

Thanks so much if you can answer any/all the above :-)

[Barrie Heaton]

Yamaha's can be voiced down to match the Kawai However, its better to buy a piano that you like to start with than changing it

Haver a look at Zimmermann and Irmler P122E or the second hand market in the 3 to 5 year 5 bracket

There is a silent Yamaha P121 you may be able to knock them down if you want a silent piano but the bass is not as rich as a U3

but if you buy private take a tuner with you

Barrie,

[spiltmilk_2000]

Thanks for the advice Barrie, will be sure to check out Zimmerman and Imler.

Did you have any thoughts on the silent systems? Does the (factory) fitting of a silent system have any sort of detrimental affect on the action or the acoustic sound of a piano?

Im starting to wonder if used might be the way to go (obviously checked by a tech) as it seems for around £5k I can get something really decent used where as new in that price range I may have to make the odd compromise.

Thanks again, for the help
Russ

[Barrie Heaton]

On grands Factory is better. On uprights there is not a lot in it now, the stop systems have moved on. A lot depends on which censer you have contact or optical.

I like the optical one but in a retro fitted system that more expensive there is the argument abut dust but I have only had that on one piano that was a grand and it was caked with dust

Barrie

[schubert]

As an alternative for Yamaha/Kawai uprights that sound 'mellow' - I would say really nice and that at the same time are very affordable, I would suggest the 'Venables & Sons' uprights.

You can watch/listen a few samples below:

http://www.chrisvenables.co.uk/media/videos.htm

I must admitt I only know them from video recording but do not have doubts about their price/quality ratio nonetheless. Can hardly be biased too as these are not available in my country.

schubert