Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards MP10 or CN43, that is the question...

Hi Folks,
This is the simple, yet complicated problem of mine. They are both very different pianos, but the only things that join them are the price (rougly $2500-$2700) and Kawai.
I am looking for something for home usage, yet still portable (we would need to move sooner or later).

I would like to focus on key action and realistic feel. Thats why I like the idea of having MP10 better than CN43. There is also one more thing about CN43, that bugs me, but I will tell that later.

So here is my point of view:

MP10:
+ better key action (RM3, taken from the top-shelf CA93, that is way over my budget),
+ More portable - lighter, smaller (35kg) although the entire mechanism is taken from a hog, CA93 (over 100kg).
+ firm price across continents ($2200 at thomann.de, $2500 in a US store), which mean, they don't screw you.
- 3 parts / 1 labour years warranty (does it break that often, so they don't want to warrant them?)
- would not look super-nice in living room but I don't care about that too much.
- have to figure-out how to produce sound with it and where to put it on.

CN43:
+ looks good. MP10 is just a tool, while CN43 is a nice piece of furniture, looks better in the living room.
+ Has build in (quite impressive) speaker system. Means - no hassel to get one.
+ 5 labour/5 parts year warranty
- (this reeaaaaaaaallly bugs me) way overpriced comparing to Europe ($1700 at thomann.de vs. at least $2700 here). I really don't understand that - and I really don't like the feeling of being screwed.
Kawai James have clarified some of my concerns but maybe some of you had similar problems and/or have some experience with both of them.
Or maybe I should look into Rolands, Yamahas, Classentis .....?

How about a CA63 - the best of both worlds?

James
x

heavy, heavy and heavy... and no let-off. And significantly more expensive. As usuall: cheaper, prettier, better - choose two.

MP10 is cheap and good but not pretty.
CN43 is cheap pretty, but not that good.
CAxx are pretty and good, but not cheap.

Def get a CA63 if you can afford it. Otherwise, I personally would take the MP10 because I hate the idea that I don't have the best action. Plus the MP10 looks pretty cool.

On the other hand, it is labor saving (and money saving) to not have to buy speakers if the action on the CN is ok for you. It's a good action as well.

Well, you know what I would do, but it's not unreasonable to go the other way if that's the way you are feeling. Sleep on it and then go with your gut.

Have you sat in front and played them? Gotta do that. It should help push you one way or the other.

MP10

I like your summary of the situation as it is so true! BUT, if you add aging into the equation I think things change. My Roland D-50 synth looks as pretty today as the day in 1987 when I purchased it. The CN/CA type pianos are more fake in a way and perhaps that will bug you down the road. For me, APs always age best, then stage pianos and last furniture DPs. An "honest" look is key when it comes to aging I think...

Thank's for your responses. Indeed to me MP10 looks better than MP8ii (which is asymetrical).
The problem with 'trying' them is that the closest place I can do it is 1000kms away. But I know I can try both of them at the same time.

And does anyone of you know why MP10 has only 3/1 warranty while CN series 5/5? Does it mean that MP10 breaks more often or simply, that they don't want to service a work hogs like MP10, while they assume, you would use CN mainly as a möbel

Or maybe Yamaha or Roland offers a similar thing for a similar price?

If you don't care how it looks -- get the MP10. If we didn't "need" to have something that looked like furniture, I would be starting at an MP10 right now, instead of waiting for the CS6 to get her on a delivery truck.

Thanks guys.

BTW does anybody has an experience with MP10 and knows its repetition rate? Or if somebody just played it - does it feel all right or is lacking something (repetition I mean).

Hey- I would love to get a CN43 for $1700! Can people in the states buy from European online vendors and have them ship it to the east coast of the US? Have you checked inothow much that would be? (including tax? ) I just called a ocal Kawai dealer to see if he could order me a CN43 (they didn't have them in stock) and give me a good deal. He said he could do $1000 off of retail- which I happen to know what retail is, thanks to pianobuyer.com's free price/feature charts, would put it at $2495. Hoe=wever, with tax and freight, it is back up to $2795 again! Ouch. IF this was our only piano, it would be ok, but we need to replace our acoustic soon, too.
Maybe I'll post a question about buying from overseas.

Make him an offer of $1700; the worst he can do is come back with $2495, but you never know. Offer CASH. We just bought our CS6 @ 61% of MSRP listed at pianobuyer.com (I don't know how accurate that is). They were willing to sell the CA-63 for $2580 (and may have gone lower). I think getting a DP locally is smart, on many fronts.

I wouldn't want to think about the freight charges (the box is massive) and duty which would need to be paid.

$2495 is about average for eastcoast US pricing. Could be less on the westcoast. The dp's arrive in Cali by ship, then are trucked east.

My CN 43 was delivered already put together and by a top shelf piano moving company contracted by my dealer.

Oh- so I wasn't really getting a good deal after all! I am just no good at haggling over prices I guess! When I asked if he could include the shipping, he said, "Oh no, not at that price. That is a special deal because you've already been in here and we are friends and I thought I might as well pick up another sale before the end of the year." NOTE: we are NOT friends--he just showed us a few pianos and talked with us for about an hour about month ago!LOL. I'm beginning to not trust piano dealers! What a shame.
Thanks for the info.

thomann.de responded that freight would cost about 1000 bucks which is the difference in price and should anything happen - you have to ship it back to Europe to get it fixed. Kawai EU sells and fixes their pianos, KawaiUS does this with their. Pricing is also up to them, hence the price differences, said James from Kawai.

Ouch. That is a pretty penny for shipping. Hard to imagine it costing that much. When I order stuff from Amazon.co.uk the shipping is only ever a couple of dollars. I guess Amazon has their economy of scale working for me in that case.

Repetition rate was one of my requirements when choosing a new DP, and i chose the MP10. I love the action, and have not been disappointed with the speed you can achieve with repeated notes. If constant semiquavers at 180bpm is fast enough for you, then the MP10 is a winner.

If you add a piano at Thomann.de to a cart and select US as the shipping destination the shipping cost is listed as $40 and the VAT is deducted from the piano...That sounds too low but I have to agree $1000 sounds too high. Odd. How about the geometric mean... $200 That sounds more reasonable...

But grey imports do not carry US warranty and the AC cord will have to be replaced (assuming the piano is rated for 110V 60 Hz in the first place)... Not a good idea after all.

In Canada, if your device is not CSA (Canadian Standards Association) approved, and there is a fire (for any reason) your insurance will not cover the loss. I wonder if there is something similar in the US? Likely. Worth the risk? Absolutely not, IMHO.