Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai announces Concert Artist CA99 and CA79 digital pianos

Hahaha!

I was able to play the CA79 at my local dealer and compare it with the CA99, NV10, NV5, CA58, K300 Aures. In terms of the action, it felt responsive - definitely not as a good as the NV10 or NV5 but those are much more expensive. The onboard speakers sounded good - at higher volumes I did notice that there's a slight buzzing noise when hitting lower notes if I put my ear close to the speaker. I tried replicating it on NV10 and NV5 and this occurred as well so assuming that this is normal. From a distance you couldn't hear the slight buzzing sound. I was blown away by the sound when using headphones however! It sounded so clear without any distortion. I was really impressed with the sound when using headphones. I also compared it with the CA99 but didn't like the 99 that much because I felt it had too much resonance caused by the wooden soundboard (even with the reverb tweaked). It made some songs sound muddy. NV10 and NV5 definitely felt better in terms of the action and of course the K300 Aures was the best imo (best of both worlds but at a price of $12k). My dealer was offering the CA79 for $3600 which to me, seemed pretty high and he was pretty firm on no negotiations. Is this what you guys are experiencing in terms of price? Overall, impressed with the CA79.

That's a little under €3200, roughly on par with what many European stores ask. Around here you can have better deals, but from what I hear you typically pay more in the States. Doesn't seem a bad deal to me.

It’s $3600 plus tax!

Indeed, which brings it up to $3800. I saw the prices paid forum where someone in Italy bought it for around $2800 euros or $3100. Dealer said that the internals for the European one is different from the US one which makes the US one more expensive.

Considering the ES8 as an alternative - does it have the same sound engine as the CA79?

Forgot to add that the touchscreen interfaces on the CA79 and 99 are still very laggy and unresponsive (kind of like an old android smartphone from 5 years ago), which was disappointing. Don't expect iPhone level fluidity haha.

Could someone comment on how Classic compares to Classic2 on these pianos?

The dealer said?Let's see ... the US version runs on 120 VAC. The European version runs on 240 VAC. Yep, that makes the US model more expensive. (Not.)

Is this dealer in the USA? What was their price for the CA99?

Yes, dealer is in the USA. Close to $5,000. Btw Ebony Polish has a surcharge of $500

Where in the USA was this dealer?, If you don't mind me asking. I ordered one from Toronto Canada and wanted to get some sort of a gauge for when it may arrive here.

What BS. Does he have a second income as a used cars salesman?

About the laggy touch interface. I think that this might get (kind of) fixed when the smart device app will get launched. That’s what I’m hoping for at least.

No. There are variants of the ca-line specifically for Asia, but EU/US are the same (minus PSU as echomac said). He sounds either ignorant or worse, even though people in the US typically do pay more. I paid €2853, or $3220, including taxes and a cheap bench.

The ES8 does not have the same audio engine. Ca79/99 is the latest. Previous gen is in Novus 5/10, ca58/78/98. The ES8 has the one before that.

That actually us the same here. Polished ebony is expensive!

Well, it's not that easy. The ES8 actually has the same sound engine as the CA79/99 use for any of the non-piano sounds, as well as for any of the non-SK-EX concert grand piano voices, as well as for the SK-EX concert grand voice with the "Concert", "Jazz Clean" or "Warm" piano variations.
Or the other way round: The CA79/99 only use the new sound engine for the SK-EX Concert Grand with the SK-EX Rendering variation selected. All other piano and non-piano voices on the CA79/99 are generated by the same engine as the ES8 uses.

I paid £2590 or €3000 or $3380 for my CA79, and judging by other prices online, it seems pretty good.

Sure, that is another way to put it. But doesn't that basically mean that the CA79/99 has a two-gen newer engine, but also includes the older sounds? FWIW, a number of non-piano sounds are new in the CA79/CA99. Haven't personally bothered to check them, but still. :P

It's interesting to note that there are three listings in the Prices Paid thread for CA79 purchases in Europe, but none in the US.