Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Looking for Kawai MP8 in the Philadelphia area

Ok, ok, call me obsessed - or posessed - but suddenly i have a burning desire to try out the Kawai MP8. Yes, i purchased the Roland RD700SX, and i think it will do just fine (i have a bit of a time constraint - show coming up in 2 weeks, hence the quick purchase) - but if i had more time, i would've waited till i could've tried the MP8...problem is, i can't seem to find any dealers in the Philadelphia area that have the instrument in stock!
Rather than just risk $2000 + shipping to buy the instrument outright, does anyone have any suggestions or leads as to where i might be able to see this fabled instrument with my own eyes and hands in the Philadelphia area?

Your nearest Sam Ash dealer may have one.

Sadly no - neither they nor Guitar Center deal with Kawai, for some reason...

Follow this link and you'll see that not only does Sam Ash deal with the MP8 but at a pretty good price. The only question is whether a Sam Ash store in your area has one for you to try out.

They're getting scarce...

Since they dropped the price some time ago (street price is now ±$1995), these things are really selling. I bought mine from the Montreal dealership last week, and they finally located one for me in Vancouver, only to find out that was already gone by the time they tried to order it. So now they're waiting for one from the US, where they got a confirmed order. Couple of weeks still to wait. Hot cakes go fast...

Got mine at a Sam Ash. But I had to use their store locater to hunt one down.

http://www.samashmusic.com/stores/locator.asp

I think my nearest local store offered to have it moved but I really didn't want a guilt trip if I didn't like it.

Howard

i would imagine that there are kawai dealers in philly who carry the console style digitals, and i think they have the same action (AWA pro) as the MP8. then if you decide you prefer that action, mail order an MP8.

Thing is, I don't think that's the issue though. Everyone seems to be dumping their inventories. I haven't been looking into this long enough to know why it's happening now but everything is selling for a cheap price now. The Kawai dealer in my area was dumping his old stock of CN2, CN3, CN4, ES4, and CA5s. Floor models and all. Roland dealers are also getting rid of their FP5s becuase of the new FP4 and FP7s.

Maybe the companies are getting ready for their Summer trade show? Can someone else weigh in on this?

Hugh, if you have the chance you may want to try out the new FP-4 as well. I got a chance to test drive one the other day and the action is stiffer than the RD700SX. It's more like the GH3 action of the Yamaha CLP series in my opinion. With the features you are looking for you may be more interested in the FP-7 when it comes out but at least you can get a feel for the action since they use the same PHAII. The FP-7 sounds like an RD700SX without the SRX card expansion ability, includes speakers, with a cheaper price tag.

I see the MP8 listed on various online stores (like Sam Ash), but the point is i'd like to try them out BEFORE plunking the cash down - i'd imagine there'd be a hefty restocking fee if i had to return one of those heavy monsters...

It may be difficult to find MP8 in the showroom however as it was suggested try any Kawai console that has AWA Grand Pro keyboard action which to most is the determining factor in MP8 purchase.

Check ABC Piano Discounters in Wilmington, DE. They are a very large piano dealer (including Kawai) not far from Philadelphia and most likely have some Kawai console in the showroom with AWA Grand Pro keyboard. Take good pair of headphnes with you.

If you do try it I'd like to hear your professional opinion on the key action. In my amateur view, while it does have excellent feel and control it is weighted heavier than I'd like (certainly much heavier than RD700SX).

Ditto! If you do get a chance to try it, please let us know what you think. I'm considering it, but I would need to do a private import from Germany.

Will do - i'm going to call ABC Piano Discounters later on today to see if they have any AWA-capable digital pianos in stock. If they do, then i'll try to take a trip down Friday afternoon...i'll keep y'all posted on my findings!

>i'd imagine there'd be a hefty restocking fee if i had to return one of those heavy monsters...<

you might be surprised ...

most of the big online retailers have a generous return policy of 30-45 days, and free shipping once you are over a certain purchase minimum, usually about $300. so, if you went this route, you could leisurely evaluate the instrument in your home instead of a busy showroom. if you didn't like it, you would be out return shipping which may not be as much as you think. i don't think the online retailers typically charge a restocking fee. thus your overall risk might only be $50 or so for return shipping, and the return would be not having take the time to drive to dealers, time to thoroughly evaluate, etc.

just something to think about.

This brings up several issues...

Many of us do not live in major metropoliton areas so we often have to drive a good distance to try out keyboards (at least I do). In cases where we check out the specs of an instrument as thoroughly as possible and then decide that we are serious about owning one then buying online with the option of returning is realistic. Internet dealers understand this and I haven't heard of one charging a restocking fee (check with the dealer beforehand). Usually the shipping cost to return an instrument is at the customer's expense and that's expensive enough. The money to return an instrument is equivalant to what a long drive to try it out would cost. If you use the instrument professionally then these costs are tax deductable.

Second, we all know that we can buy instruments online cheaper than retailers can sell them for, especially by the time you add sales taxes. Retailers know this too and often won't carry instruments that can be bought online (except for dealers that sell online too such as Sam Ash, Guitar Center etc.). Mom & Pop dealers rightfully resent being the place where you try an instrument but don't buy it there. So you may not have a choice but to try out an instrument at home.

Something to consider.

To shed some more light on the on-line purchase.

I bought my MP8 from kraftmusic.com with free shipping. Came with 20-days return guarantee. If I understand their return policy correctly, you pay shipping back to them plus they'll subtract their shipping charge from purchase price (even though you technically did not pay a penny for that part). Boxed MP8 weighs over 90 lbs. so you're looking at some $150-200 total charge to try it at home. My experience with kraftmusic was fine, but not without problems and nowhere near what I had expected, based on some retailer reviews I'd read prior to purchase (they do have some nicely priced bundles of other digital pianos, those are hard to beat).

How do you like your MP8? I'm going to visit ABC Piano Discounters in Delaware tomorrow to check out a Kawai CA-X, apparently the newer model with the AWA action...i'd love to get your feedback nonetheless!

CA-X indeed has the same keyboard as MP8 yet only a fraction of functionality and voices of MP8. CA-X is smaller than MP8 (although weights about the same) and from what I can see on the pictures is much prettier looking than MP8 monster. It should also be about $400 cheaper than MP8.

BTW you can get full pdf manuals for all Kawai digitals here:
http://www.kawaius-tsd.com/pages/dp_om.html

1. CA-X is actually only marginally smaller than the MP8

2. CA-X is indeed a nicer looking piano for home display, but MP8's pics on kawai's site do no do justice to its looks - it is far more impressive and great looking too. Very clean layout, simple yet well thought out. Small display is also far more informative than CA-X's 3-digit LED.

These pics are closer to the actual, especially the close up at top

3. CA-X is hard to find at most dealers, often it becomes a special order item and your barganing power is hugely limited.

It appears that CA-X has disapperaed from Kawai US site.

vitog -
- from what I can MP8 is larger than CA-X not the other way around;
- last time I checked with samash about a month ago they could special order CA-X for USD1600;
- I did hear the rumors of CA-X being discontinued and yes you are right, it disappeared from kawaius site.