Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
We are putting our CA99 on the market because we have too many pianos at home. Putting it about 85% of the price we bought new and no bites (4 years of warranty left).
The warranty doesn't transfer to a buyer of used piano. It's gone once you sell it.
I can understand your impression. I am interested in a CA79/99 too but all the reports make me unsure. It's a pity - the CA99 seems to be a great instruments, with an excellent action, great samples and a very good speaker system. But it should be possible to order one, for example online at Thomann in Europe, and, if your unit has flaws and errors that a Kawai technician can't fix, to return it. But if it's okay, you have a great instrument. There are also plenty of other great choices like the Yamaha CLP 775/785 and NU1X, the Casio GP 310/510 and Roland LX 706/708 in a similar price bracket.
After owning this new CA79 for 6 months, I am returning it. I have had the speaker buzzing problem since day 1. Was never able to "fix" it playing with the various settings, without totally neutering the sound.
THE PROS of my CA 79: The action, the feel, the headphone sound, the recorded USB sound, all that... its really fabulous.
THE CONS: HOW IT SOUNDS FROM THE SPEAKERS. It really, really sounds terrible imo. After playing with the beautiful headphone sound for 6 months, the speaker sound really disgusts me at this point. I wasn't a fan of the speaker sound at the beginning, and the buzzing was really disappointing... but after getting verrrry used the excellent headphone and USB-recorded sound, the speaker sound is garbage and I cannot stand it now. Even if it wasn't buzzing, the sound is not very good. Sounds VERY MUCH like a digital piano, not far from the $1,000 DP I owned previously. I am still really quite surprised that the CA79 sounds like this
Was tempted to replace with the CA99, but I've heard too many negatives ITT about it so didn't want to go there. Was tempted to replace with the NV5, but I read a couple folks ITT replace their CA99 with the NV5 and then return the NV5 for problems as well. Crazy... Was VERY tempted to replace with the N5S, since my strong assumption is they fixed the problems with the NV5... but the DP sound and the speaker issue from my CA79 makes me entirely too reluctant, since the NV5S is "too new" at this point and not proven...
So, I went big instead. Skipping all the DPs and going straight to the true hybrid Kawai K-500 AURES 2. Apparently there is a new "AURES 2" version that has just been released (ish). Yes its double the price of the NV5S and not even in the same realm of class of the CA79... but still wanted to share my experience with the CA79 and ultimately where it landed me.
Best of luck to all CA79/CA99 owners out there... I really hope they fix all the problems going on, I think they will in the next release. Maybe I should have waited for the "CA79S" lol.... but at this point, going for the accoustic + digital combined, I'm in love
Yamaha YUS5 TA2 // NI Noire // started Oct 2020 // working on RCM Level 3 (21%)
After owning this new CA79 for 6 months, I am returning it. I have had the speaker buzzing problem since day 1. Was never able to "fix" it playing with the various settings, without totally neutering the sound.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Your previous post noted that performing a factory reset seemed to resolve the issue you were experiencing - did this turn out not to be the case?
May I ask if you have already been in touch with your dealer and/or Kawai America (assuming you are indeed based in the US) to have this matter investigated?
After owning this new CA79 for 6 months, I am returning it. I have had the speaker buzzing problem since day 1. Was never able to "fix" it playing with the various settings, without totally neutering the sound.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Your previous post noted that performing a factory reset seemed to resolve the issue you were experiencing - did this turn out not to be the case?
May I ask if you have already been in touch with your dealer and/or Kawai America (assuming you are indeed based in the US) to have this matter investigated?
Kind regards, James x
The factory reset did not solve the issue. I believe it was placebo / "wishful thinking" kind of thing, when I did it initially. At this point I have had the piano for 6 months and the buzzing is 100% absolutely still there.
I did indeed contact the dealer who is an official Kawai licensed dealer, but I was so upfront in the fact that I wanted to replace the CA79 and "trade-up" to another model, that further investigation on his part ceased as he confirmed I could return the CA79 and trade-up and receive 100% of the cost back towards a different model.
Yamaha YUS5 TA2 // NI Noire // started Oct 2020 // working on RCM Level 3 (21%)
Is the Kawai CA79 delivered in one box or two? And is it possible to lift the piano a few floors with two "medium strong" persons? I think of buying a CA79 and I am not sure if I should get the "premium" delivery, because it would cost an extra 120-150 € and would habe a approximately two or three weeks longer waiting time. Also I trust myself more assembling the piano very carefully than some piano movers.
Hi HZPiano, thank you for your answer! 96 or 99 kg, wow, really that heavy? In the spec sheets it says the CA79 has a weight of 76kg (rosewood finish), so 20kg extra of packaging? Wow. Unfortunately I can't let the box stay downstairs and unpack it there, because it's the narrow entrance of our apartment building. Approx. 100kg in one big box doesn't seem easy to handle...
We are putting our CA99 on the market because we have too many pianos at home. Putting it about 85% of the price we bought new and no bites (4 years of warranty left).
The warranty doesn't transfer to a buyer of used piano. It's gone once you sell it.
Do not generalize. That depends on the country and if transaction is between two private parties or between a private party and a business. In the European Union, the Consumer Rights Directive states that you will always get warranty if you are buying a used product from a business. However, the Directive does not cover transactions between private parties. So, in countries that tie the warranty to the buyer and not to the product, the warranty will not be transferable.
Hi HZPiano, thank you for your answer! 96 or 99 kg, wow, really that heavy? In the spec sheets it says the CA79 has a weight of 76kg (rosewood finish), so 20kg extra of packaging? Wow. Unfortunately I can't let the box stay downstairs and unpack it there, because it's the narrow entrance of our apartment building. Approx. 100kg in one big box doesn't seem easy to handle...
The packaging includes a wooden/reinforced frame. The CA79 and CA 99 ship in a single box. The 79's box is 160x70x65 and the 99's is 155x60x110. The 99 comes pre-assembled, so you need to move it as a 100 Kg single piece. This requires specialized shoulder straps/belts. I would rely on movers to move it because of the size and sheer weight. The CA79 is more manageable if you unpack it downstairs and move it as separate pieces, but the main piece is large and weighs ~50 Kg. A specialized mover will very likely unpack the piano downstairs, protect it and use shoulder straps to move it. An advantage of the "premium" delivery is that they will take all the packaging materials and will be responsible for the damage if something goes wrong...
New owner of CA99 EP here. I was sure that the part of owners complain only on forum, but biggest part just enjoy their pianos and decided to pull a trigger, new CA99 ordered a month ago from Rimmers music, UK. It was delivered yesterday by professional piano carriers. Brand new box, unpacked, installed, plugged in. They also tested every single key, switched on demo playing and left, literally 2 minutes later it started making a very distorted sound for a few seconds and then went completely silent. Nobody was even touching it. Switched on and off a number of times, checked all the settings, troubleshooting manual, but nothing helps. Display works fine though. I will contact the dealer on Monday morning and see what they say. I don't expect the magic happen. Also I noticed the firmware is LCD v1.06 System v2.0 Headphone hook was already installed and the inserts are damaged, looks like somebody has installed it with wrong screwdriver, definitely not at the factory, it makes me think the piano was returned and refurbished before. Very disappointed with KAWAI quality. 2 Kawai pianos owned. Summary: ES110 lasted only 3 years CA99 failed on a first day
New owner of CA99 EP here. I was sure that the part of owners complain only on forum, but biggest part just enjoy their pianos and decided to pull a trigger, new CA99 ordered a month ago from Rimmers music, UK. It was delivered yesterday by professional piano carriers. Brand new box, unpacked, installed, plugged in. They also tested every single key, switched on demo playing and left, literally 2 minutes later it started making a very distorted sound for a few seconds and then went completely silent. Nobody was even touching it. Switched on and off a number of times, checked all the settings, troubleshooting manual, but nothing helps. Display works fine though. I will contact the dealer on Monday morning and see what they say. I don't expect the magic happen. Also I noticed the firmware is LCD v1.06 System v2.0 Headphone hook was already installed and the inserts are damaged, looks like somebody has installed it with wrong screwdriver, definitely not at the factory, it makes me think the piano was returned and refurbished before. Very disappointed with KAWAI quality. 2 Kawai pianos owned. Summary: ES110 lasted only 3 years CA99 failed on a first day
Oh no :(( - this is a very sad post to read I actually never had any problems with my KAWAI Pianos... CA58, 98 or 79. Decided to try something new and got a NU1X now... waiting for it to be delivered! I hope everything works out for you, I'm sure your dealer can replace it for you.
Now having second thoughts about Ca79. Would have pulled the trigger this week. Too many people experiencing issues for my liking. Will look seriously at Yamaha Nu1x.
...Headphone hook was already installed and the inserts are damaged, looks like somebody has installed it with wrong screwdriver, definitely not at the factory, it makes me think the piano was returned and refurbished before. ...
I think you're right in your assumption it might be a returned model. The headphone bracket isn't installed at the factory but has to be fitted if needed by the owner or dealer so after the piano has been unpackaged from it's original box.
Hope you manage to bet it sorted ASAP - for the record, there are a lot of issues with these models discussed on here, but I've had my CA79 for over a year now and couldn't be happier with it.
On the odd occasion when I had a squeaky or clicking key, I continued playing and the noises disappeared fairly quickly.
Headphone hook was already installed and the inserts are damaged, looks like somebody has installed it with wrong screwdriver, definitely not at the factory, it makes me think the piano was returned and refurbished before.
I agree with your assumption. It has to be fitted manually by the owner. This has been definitely opened before.
Hi all, received my CA99 a few days ago, immediately noticed a digital distortion sound from the left speaker, and sometimes right too.
(quiet sound, may need to turn up volume)
The retailer has contacted Kawai and I am awaiting their support, I am guessing they will replace the speakers at the top. Aside from this, the piano is fantastic, not remotely comparable to my previous FP-90X. Just such a shame they have these issues.
