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With the runaway success of the Kawai NV5 (and of course the CA99), and the high probability that a newer iteration of the NV 10 may include a soundboard, my interest in this technology has spiked. The first pianos to incorporate these speakers were apparently the Yamaha Transacoustics, but they had two limitations (A) as the soundboards were normal piano gear with strings and bridge, the tranducers came as an addition that could create interference with normal acoustic use; (B) they were very expensive.

Kawai was AFAIK first in featuring spruce soundboards in a purely digital instrument. It became more economical, as the soundboard could be designed for "excitation" by electronic means only, and assume a very simple format. My guess is that Kawai made a lot of experiments with Onkyo, and decided that it added a lot to the overall effect but still needed the cooperation of a good speaker system with suitable amplifiers. Given the potential price point, adding a genuine upright action was a good idea, and, lo and behold, voilà the NV5. Stu from Toronto waxes ecstatic, and... I order one (for 2022 ???)

It seems that the small Swiss outfit JMC was instrumental in launching the concept to audiophiles around 2012 and polishing it since. Here is a (not recent) video of their endeavours.



I would much appreciate comments / reviews from owners of such devices, or pianos fitted with such devices, on what to expect.

The sound is warm, is it precise though.

Quite interesting, I'd very much like to hear it on person, especially to see how directional the sound really is.

I wonder how Kawai's soundboard expertise compares to those guys.

Due to the design/variability of wood, I highly doubt they can get a good stereo matched pair made, it would be 1 set in a thousand. That's probably why they don't do sets by default.

I did not know JMC, thanks for the information! For music replay I use BMR speakers which also are high dispersion speakers and generate high tones through waves that propagate along the surface of the membrane, a bit like in a soundboard. An, of course, electrostatic speakers like the Martin Logan work according to a similar principle. By the way, my wife bought an NV5 about one year ago and she is very pleased with the instrument. I am struggling to learn the very basics but playing (or pretending to do so) with the NV5 is always a great pleasure for me as well. I hope your NV5 will arrive soon!

Hello,

In another (non-piano) musical project of mine, which is in a cryo state for now, I got very excited about the exciter technology as well.

Here are the two videos that helped me learn/understand a lot about the use of exciters and the thin lines between failure and success:

Part 1



Part 2



Cheers and happy exciting,

HZ

Seeems there is a lot to explore on this topic.
It'd be interesting to utilse an old acoustic (grand or upright) complete with strings, but with the action removed. Replace with a slab if there's space. Connect up the digital pedal modified to lift up the in- situ damper mechanism and see if the result is worthwhile.
One could position the speakers, or exciters against the back of the soundboard facing inwards towards the player; if the speakers were small, the holes need only be small too. DP resonance turned off, the pedal when depressed would excite all the strings, but to a greater degree with those in harmony. Plenty to play around with here
Who's gonna be first? (everybody steps back)

@peterws: You're looking for someone to do this? I nominate Cyber Gene.

Whadda ya say, CG?

Hello,


I've had thoughts along similar lines. Would find it super fun and interesting to carry out such experiments. However, for I have no space, not even remotely, to host such an experimental (nor non-experimental for that matter) instrument, I don't explicitly step back but not much forward either. Unfortunately.

Cheers and let's be excited anyway 😉,

HZ