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I felt the same way with my CA63. There was something exaggerated in the amp/speaker system and the bass notes were just artificially boomy. In another post you state that you felt the same way with headphones though. I was OK with headphones on the CA63 but I guess the previous generation of Kawai samples is generally softer. I love my ES7 because the sound system is just enough and it never sounds weak or lacking. I am not very convinced in the CA-philosophy of way too powerful cabinets, amps and speakers. Or maybe they overdid it.

Yesterday my daughter played at a music store sponsored piano competition.

We first went to the piano teacher's house where she played warmup and went over her competition pieces on a steinway piano. Then we went to the music store. They had a gp300 and gp500 there, also a ca97, ca67, etc. She played some warmup on the ca97, then I switched her to the gp500 then back. So she spent maybe 15 minutes on them total.

The player in the slot before my daughter's had cancelled so I pulled the headphone jacks on them and let her play as well (I still got in trouble for doing that though).

Placement on both pianos weren't too great, equally bad, with the left side against a concrete wall. I thought the default ca97 sounded very harsh, both with and without headphones. We liked the casio sound engine and reproduction better. As for action my daughter preferred the gp500's action. But we didn't spend a whole lot of time with them.

Oh yeah, she ended up placing 4th of 23 in this open competition (her first one). One mental mistake on passage transition and a couple other small mistakes.

wow, only saw this now! now I know what shall replace my PX 850 in the coming years

can't believe the toy keyboard maker of decades ago is now offering true competition in the market

seems like plastic keys will be a thing of the past for all players, which is actually kinda weird when we consider that wood is making a comeback... LOL

damn, already selling in brazil, the gp300 for a mere 12k reais or about 4x my current one LOL still, looks well worth it. I specially enjoyed the feature of playing along a digital orchestra in many predefined piano concertos

drooling

Dorotis, what is really extremely strange, is the the GP300 is the same price as in Europe o_O
I suspected it to be like 50% more expensive.

Dorotis? is that me?

anyway, brazil prices are insane, dollar has skyrocketed here and so on. But some time ahead, oh can't wait for it. Money saving should also allow me some more time to polish my eternally lacklustre technique :p

BTW, I've read this thread with avid interest and there were many invaluable opinions of people who clearly played it and also that wealth of one-shot accounts created only to discredit a competing product as is always expected. Pathetic...

Sorry for wrong writing your nick, I was just going to sleep. I do not think that here we may have those kinds of attacks for other brands, and as you know from major manufacturers only Yamaha representative is not present here. We have Casio, Roland and Kawai.

But indeed, some frustrated people can come here and say that the one brand is bad and other one is absolutely amazing, but they are most likely shops people. You may remember, few years ago it was very loud here about one of piano dealers, but I do not remember the whole story right now... it happenes everywhere.

Generally, it's a matter of taste in similar price ranges, but here are some brands which have higher popularity than others
PX150 was a king of cheap pianos, Kawai CA6x was king of top pianos. But since Roland made their new line end of last year it changed a bit. Casio is new here, so I think it needs some time for people to play, test and so on. Yamaha is on the end of popularity here... and.. probably... there is something behind it

Some new GP500 demos. Very nice.

For me, the piano sounds great, it's just the action which isn't bad per se, it's just different.

What's with everyone and wanting heavy keys, why would you want heavy keys and strain yourself playing, a nice grand aint that heavy. Be glad the pianos are not stiff and annoying to play like Yamaha's. I couldn't find a dealer close by but I would really want to give this piano a try, it looks beautiful sounds beautiful and they have a real wooden keybed which people say is light = I will love it!

And how light can it be, it's still moving full length wooden keys which takes a certain force to push down so I doubt they are that light are you ultra strong pianists in here or something?

Playing on a piano where it's a challenge to play makes the other pianos that much easier.

It's like biking uphill all the time and then getting a call to bike downhill.

I want my practice time to ask something from me.

Well I can understand that but most of us might not have it for just getting a workout and then sit at a nice grand. I have mine as the main instrument and then I want it to be enjoyable and if the keys are heavy it's not.

I wrote it several times here. Kawai action is nit heavy, it's just fine. If you find it heavy, that you have not played many grands in your life. Besides, it's impossible to develop proper technique with all elements on a light action and you have less control over light action. If Casio had counterweights, it would be probably perfect action.

Absolutely agree (and with kapelli above). Love heavy actions (in Academy I always tried to get room with heavier action piano for practicing). Love let-off/escapement effect (which is missing here, I was shocked). And for me it is not artifact or some imperfection, but one from all piano nuances which makes piano more alive and fuller for me. I love all these "imperfections" in acoustic pianos.

And one more drawback here for me: this action can't be implemented in digital stage (slab) pianos (too big), therefore out of my interest. That's why I'm with Kawai (Grand Feel II) and Roland (PHA-50).

Hi everyone. How does the GP500 compare to the Kawai CA97. I have tried them both but it was in different shops and I can't quite decide. Can anyone advise me?

I really think you need to decide for yourself.

Neither are entry level digitals, you may not be able to play them back-to-back in the same place / shop, but being able to play them both should give you something.

I don't think there's a bad choice out of those two, but really, it should be what you find / decide. Making a decision by proxy of internet opinions, I suspect, will be of little solace if you come to regret that choice.

Which piano did you prefer?

Thanks for your reply James. I really liked them both but in different ways. If I had to put it succinctly I just preferred the casio action, I actually found the GF2 slightly light. But the Kawai sound was far superior. I especially liked the SK-5 voice which was really nice. This is why I'm having so much trouble deciding! I do use a VST as well, but I want a piano that has good onboard sounds as well, for variety. Just out of interest, how much difference does the Soundboard speaker system make?

That's good advice thank you.

Hi Gers76
and you see, I found those two pianos exactly opposite than you wrote. Kawai has the heaviest action on the market and is nice. However, I could not match myself with the piano sound, but action is something that you can't take your hands off (Other thing is that this shop - and the only one in which I can try Kawai - has a horrible acoustics in piano room). Nevertheless I am in love in Casio Hamburg

You just have to choose that piano, that gives you more pleasure and fun and with with you feel connected and feel good playing on it. Between those two everything what matters is just personal feeling. Both are top digitals and you can't go wrong with one of them. It's the same like do you want a sport made BMW or a calm and delicate Mercedes. Both are made from top materials delivering top quality and most sophisticated equipment and so on, but ARE MADE HIGHLY DIFFERENT TO SERVE DIFFERENT GROUP OF CUSTOMERS. On papers and standing on parking both are more or less equal. But what matters is how to you feel when driving and using them. The same is with pianos.

Just buy the one you feel you will find more pleasure playing, listening and generally living with it. This is the question you have to answer yourself.

and, whatever you will buy, be convinved that this is what you want and both action and sound is satysfying to you. Sorry, but if you would make a poll, probably the answers would be close to 50/50 (ok, in reality maybe still more or kawai, because Casio is not available to play here and there and many people could not have played on them and vote just because the love Kawai), but nevetheless, as James wrote, ask your feelings and find answer in your heart. and throw off specs, just made them equal on paper.


and let us know what is your final decision! and why! WE like to hear that.

It's not a decision I envy - I've read your other reply so understand your quandry.

Is there perhaps another make / model you can throw into the mix as another comparison?

Otherwise, make your list of pros and cons, and give it a bit of time to decide what matters most.

Genuinely I don't think there's a bad decision to make, there, but I do feel it's one that should come from your own preferences.