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Hello everybody. I'm new here. I was shopping around for a piano for my little daughter. We went to see Yamaha, Kawai, Moutrie, Toyama, Cristofori and Nottingham.

Obviously this is turning out to be a much larger exercise than we expected. There are simply tons of made-in-China pianos out there - for a budget of $5,000 or less - and nothing else. Just looking at the China pianos made my head spin.

For a lower-end Japanese one, it a close call between K3 and U1 but they come at a price of $7,000 and above. The M113T is cheaper but the touch and sound cannot make it (to us, that is).

Does anyone have any experience to share with their Kawais, Yamahas, or made-in-China pianos?

FYI, we don't play the piano.

OK....another drum roll.....I just got myself the Kawai K8. Don't know what got into me that day. I was supposed to walk in and order the 26-yr old US50 but ended with a new K8 which is more than doubled my original budget . The only consolation I have is that they have a 20% discount.....yeah!

I was down at the Yamaha Fair too. The way people are snapping up the GB1 & GC1 baby grands is like they are buying tissue papers and I had to walk out quickly before I end up with a K8 AND a GB1!

snoopycar: yup, in C#minor.

Pufferfish, warm welcome to you! I wouldn't advise you to look at China-made pianos because most of them I encountered are not too good. Maybe someone has a positive experience? If you don't mind pre-owned pianos, you can get a pretty good Yamaha or Kawai for that money.

Way to go! You did exactly what I did, scrape around inside my wallet to double the budget. You'll be very happy with the K8. And don't worry about the Yamaha baby grands. The K8 can more than hold its own against them.

Which reminds me, its time for tuning #2 for my K8.

Welcome to PW, Singapore style. I guess you know by now that Kawai and Yamaha are having one of the two sales they have every year. I have a bias towards the Kawai sound, so would suggest the K3. (Actually I have much MUCH more expensive tastes in piano, but the wallet is very weak.)

For an interesting comparison, check out Brodmann at Pianoman in Bukit Timah Plaza. Made in China, but some people give their top end upright the thumbs up.

hi pufferfish, welcome to the forum too.
I also think K3 is good performace for price comparison. Higher ends kawai may have neotex key and duplex string scaling, which might not be necessary ....
China piano, can "look" and compare carefully.
To buy, you'd have to consider very very carefully. It's gotta do with inner quality and reliability. Just like cars, QQ, Getz, Jazz, Civic, camry. K3 is like honda jazz, Yamaha U1 is like toyota Vios hehehe

Clam: Congrads on yr new K8!! when is the piano warming party??? ... why didn't you get GE10?

Wah! people are snapping up grands at yamaha..
wonderful..

hi

i'm new here. May i know where is the Kawai sales held? Is it still on? I know that Yamaha fair was held over the weekend? Is there a good catch?

My girl is doing her grade 2 and my boy has been learning the piano for about a year. He shows more potential than his sister.

We have a 27 year old Kaiser that is way off key and cannot be tuned correctly any more. The kids have been complaining that their songs sound different at home as compared to their music school.

So i'm thinking of getting a new piano. But my budget is constrained. Not cheap to have kids in Spore and to send them for music lessons, etc.

Would appreciate some advice on getting a decent budget piano. Was thinking of either a Yamaha or a Kawai.

Thank you!

Hey guys, thanks for your advice and ideas. Really appreciate them.

Congratulations on getting your K8, clam.

Looking at what's available in Singapore - which are mostly China or Japan pianos - I guess we couldn't go wrong with a Yamaha or Kawai.

We did visit Pianoman over the weekend. If I don't recall wrongly the Brodmann upright was going at $7k+, and they have a Brodmann grand there too.

Some China pianos like sound ok, but I'm afraid they won't age very well and become more bright and irritating as time goes by. Kawai has good sound and touch. Yamaha is a little inconsistent - their J series, M112T and U1 feel and sound somewhat disparate. The Yamaha fair should be over by now, and prices back to normal. That should make the U1 a $9k+ piano.

snoopycar, we don't play the piano, so we're absolutely clueless about inner qualities and reliability. What we know we learnt from this forum (thanks again, guys) and from our chats with the piano sales folks. You can imagine the murky pools of sales pitches we have to wade through. Eventually when we do buy a piano, it may still be a stab in the dark, even though our eyes may have become a little more accustomed to the lack of light.

For the price of a K8, I guess you can get a weekend QQ. lol

After a rather lengthy search I got myself the YUS5. Must say that I was initially not too pleased with its tone straight after delivery as it was quite badly out of tune. Just had its first tuning a few days back and I am now reminded why I chose it over so many other makes and models. I'm amazed what a proper tuning can do to a piano's colour and voice.

Digitus: Thanks for reminding me I still have company in this highly emotional exercise of buying a K8. So how's your K8 so far?

snoopycar: Thanks. Piano warming party? Mmmm....I'm still recovering from the shock with what I just did and you want me to get a GE10? Probably need to go for counselling pretty soon.

Zmm: Welcome! What's your budget? If you can stretch it, get a new low-end Kawai like the K3. Robert Piano is still having a sale I believe.

pufferfish: Thanks. Yup, pretty close to that weekend China car...So have you decided? Go for the K3.

RichterForever: YUS5....good choice there.

thanks clam! Will call up Robert Piano to enquire.

So the K3 is about $6999..... Looking at something around $5000 or less. But with <$5000, can only get 2nd hand piano right?

I read somewhere that 2nd hand piano which are not thoroughly cleaned may carry lots of dust/bugs/bacteria. Bad for asthmatics and my kids are asthmatic .... *sigh*

i would still love to go for a new piano ...... *dream* ... We sporeans like cheap and good stuff. But guess that this can't apply to buying pianos.

zmm, with about $5K, yes, you are limited to pre-owned pianos. But these pianos are not as scary as what you imagined them to be. These 2nd-hand pianos are in pretty good condition and well-maintained because they get them from Japan. I've seen several pianos that looks quite new at the inside because of the cool weather and low humiditiy in Japan. Just to share my discovery when I started out shopping for a piano: Asia Piano has a 7-yr old Kawai K50 going for about $5.7K and that was the one I almost plonk my money into. They also got a USX7 going for about $4K+. Robert Piano also sells some pretty good 2nd-hand Kawai pianos. They had a couple of US50 going for $5.5-$5.8K and they look like they are 5 yr old when they are about 24-26 yrs old. Don't rule them out totally. I suggest you go take a look for yourself.

clam,

thanks again. thinking of taking a look this weekend - Asia Piano @ spore shopping centre and Robert piano.

Robert piano has 4 stores - millenia walk, Parkway, Centrept and Paragon. Which store will u recommend to go?

Sorry have to ask this, cos hv to bring my whole brood along as no alternative help. with 3 kids in tow, u just want to zoom to the target to accomplish purpose.

Clam, Congrats on getting your new K8. So envious!

zmm and pufferfish, welcome! I was in the same boat, searching almost the whole Singapore for my first piano, but glad that I've got what I wanted finally!

Seriously, with a budget of $5k, it's really hard to get a new fully Japan made piano, especially yamaha or kawai. I was quite shy to tell the salesman when asked my budget. If you want a brand new one, you might have to settle for those OEM in china (parts from Japan or Germany, but assemble in china).

Try looking for used pianos (Yamaha or Kawai), it's really not as bad as bringing a "ghost" home together with the old piano.

Keep trying the reputable shops like asia piano, pianoman, mun kai, music clef (suntec), emmanuel & sons, piano passion, zadok.

For Robert piano, do visit the millenia walk branch, I think they are the biggest and the salesman is quite friendly (compared to the hopeless one in parkway). Their used pianos are in good condition (though a bit expensive). Considered the display sets that they advertised, going at about $5.1k?

Another good source is the internet : yahoo auction, ebay, yahoo classified. Can get much cheaper price coz buying directly from owner, though a bit troublesome to contact and view the pianos. Savings sure worth the effort.

I prefer the Millenia Walk showroom. The old man spends most of his time there, and if you want to try for a discount he is the one the sales reps turn to for a decision. He is also nice to chat to, but also dangerous because he is a better salesman than the others who work for him!

thummy: Thanks. Glad you are happy with what you've found at last. Ha ha...you are beginning to sound like an expert in piano shopping now

digitus: Surprisingly, the few occasions I was there, I do not see him at all.

zmm: As suggested by digitus and thummy, go for the one at Millenia Walk; it is a huge showroom. Good luck to your piano hunting!

Oh, nice instrument!

wah, K3 so highly recommended... Not surprising considering the sound it is capable of producing and the power it can deliver.

thummy: you mentioned in an earlier post the K3 is selling at $6,999 after a 20% discount, while stocks last(!). Does that mean the non-promotional price is $8,500? I ask this because the folks at Robert said the non-promotional price was $7,500.

The Millenia Walk showroom is big. While we were there, we got the salesman to play on a couple of Steinways just for the fun of it. My daughter played on the Steinway grand too.

Whenever we go to a piano shop, she will invariably veer towards the grands (she says she prefer the voices of grand pianos to uprights). Ah, but she is also the biggest wild card in this piano-hunting expedition - who knows how long she will remain interested in playing the piano?

He is there quite often, though he does pop over to regional countries to service Steinways for rich tai tais. His office is the one with the mirrored window, right behind the Shigeru Kawais.

thank u people! u all are very helpful.

what do you all think of a 1 year old Yamaha M112T going for $4500?

Hi All.
This is my 1st posting here. :-)
I am currently looking for a piano to replace my '98 Yamaha U1. My teacher recommends "Ellington" & "Otto-Renner", which are both avaiable at Renner Piano. Heard that Ellington was orginally owned by the same manufacturer of Baldwin. It is currently assembled in Korea. Would appreciate comments about these 2 brands about the touch & tone.