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Joined: Apr 2010
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Hello all, I don't play piano yet, but will learn how to play with my 4 year old daughter soon. After some research(larry book, pianobuy.com, local store etc ), we came down to the below 3 models
Yamaha P22 $4400 plus tax Yamaha T118$3935 plus tax Kawai UST-9 $4600 plus tax
Our only local Kawai dealer is going out of business, I was told this is a good deal. Our potential piano teacher recommend YAMAHA. After our own research, it seems that KAWAI vs YAMAHA might be a personal preference, but we haven't even had a preference at all. So would like to see opinions from people who has more experience with Pianos
Any info will be appreciated!
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The Yamaha P22 is the best deal in terms of discount and in terms of quality.
Choleric Yamaha CVP307 digital piano
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Welcome to the Forum, Marathon.
Compared to pianobuyer.com's SMP's, the discounts are: P22 -32.3%, T118 -28.4% and UST-9 -34.2%.
So far (one year), I have no complaints about my UST-9. I like the Millennium III action. My teacher and I both prefer my piano to the P22 at my church. I don't have any first hand experience with the T118.
All three are solid choices for your purpose. Which one do YOU like?
Charles
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I compared recently the UST-9 and the Kawai K-3 and I like the UST-9 better, to me, the UST-9 has a more warm and balance tone across all the keys, I also like the Millennium III action in UST-9. I tried out the Yamaha P22 too and I like it better than the T118.
To me, I will put the Indonesian made UST-9 first, then the Chinese made P22 and then the T118 last. You get a good price on the UST-9.
Good luck.
Kawai RX-3, UST-9.
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Charles and Choleric, thank you both.
I kinda like the looks of T118 most, however this might be the least important thing for a Piano. I really like our local KAWAI store staff, they are honest and helful, however the YAMAHA store people are really pushy and even distorting facts(mainly about KAWAI) a little bit... this again might be the least important thing for a piano I might be keeping for a long time. From this you can see how clueless I'm. Anyway I did play all the models individually in the stores, try to find the difference from my ear to see whether I will be attracted to a certain one, and apparently I failed to tell any difference.
The spec of UST-9 really looks good to me as a piano dummy, and the keyboard cover has a slow shut-down motion built in, which will help in my househole with small kids, otherwise they will slam the cover. (see I only have preference over those non critical stuff of a piano, that's why I need others' opinions.) My potential piano teacher(who is a professor in a renowned music institute) has P22 in her office, and recommends p22 other than t118 or ust-9. This certainly adds the weight to my decision process.
Thanks again and hope to see more thoughts about this,
Marathon
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thanks musicbud,
The Millennium III action on the spec does add some weight, though I can't feel it yet.
It's good to know the comparison you had between those 2.
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btw, i was told the the action from ust-9 is from japan, of course everything else is from indonesian. How about p22 or t118, is everytinng including the action from China, or the action is from japan, and everything else is from china? anybody has a clue?
Thanks,
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Pretty sure the action of the UST-9 is from Japan. Are you sure the UST-9 has the slow fall board device ?
Kawai RX-3, UST-9.
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All Millennium-III actions are made by Kawai in Japan. For the UST-9 they are shipped to our factory in Indonesia and installed and regulated there.
The UST-9 has a kind of pivoting / sliding fallboard design, and there is no need for a slo-fall mechanism. It has to be pulled to close it, and cannot be closed accidentally.
Don Mannino RPT, MPA
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I would try to avoid getting bogged down in the issue of where it is made/assembled etc. The pianos you are looking at are probably all equally well made and will be excellent choices for your purposes.
You like to look of the T-118, but you might want to also consider the practical advantages of the music shelf on the p-22 and the UST-9. With a young child in the house, the studio models provide a very sturdy advantage. You can also spread out so much more music on the music desk of the studio models over the "professional" style hinged shelf.
I have never played a UST-9, but between the P-22 and the T118, I much preferred the P-22.
If you do like the style of the T-118 and can handle the idea of an Asian made piano, you will get more value for your money if you consider Perzina, Brodmann, WM Knabe, and Hailun. You are paying extra for the name (and long history of quality) of Kawai and Yamaha.
Good luck with your search.
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boxijie and KawaiDon, thank you both.
The pivoting / sliding fallboard design is probably what I meant.
The shelves/sturdy design of ust-9 and p22 boxijie mentioned certainly is at least a comparable factor to the looks, which I didn't pay attention at the store.
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well I just got the serial number for both the p22 and ust-9. I verified the ust-9 with KAWAI USA that everything is what it is supposed to be(model/year/place of making, etc). But somehow the serial number(7 digit) for P22 model returned 'This serial number is not made for North America market', then I put the model number as prefix, it returned the same message. Anyone has experience like that with YAMAHA? I had thought the grey market YAMAHA was really in the past, and hate to relate to new pianos. Well before I speculate more possibilities(tricky dealer?), I will verify the number with the dealer first then.
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I kinda of prefer either P22 or UST-9 now.
I hear that new KAWAI or YAMAHA nowadays has very little individual variations, so it is not necessary to pick one out of three, etc. IS it true?
UST-9 only has one left(in the showroom for 3 months), and P2 has 2 or 3 to choose from(all have been in a school festival once for a day or 2). Should this be a consideration?
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marathon, you should call Yamaha and find out about that serial number. Verify that the P22s are new pianos with a warranty.
And as everyone has said, those are all nice pianos.
Gary
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I just verified with YAMAHA that particular P22 is a North America one, but they can only tell me whether it was made within the last 3 years or not, apparently yes.
Now I kinda of prefer either P22 or UST-9,
We only have one yamaha dealer and one kawai dealer here, and the only kawai dealer is going out of business. So in another word this is the last chance if I want a KAWAI. If really UST-9 is generally a better Piano than P22, I will buy it. And I guess this is where there is no such a thing you can quantify, like which one scores higher.
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Thanks terminaldegree,
I have recorded serial number for both and verified both. Now it really comes down to the question is UST-9 generally speaking a better piano than P22. If the answer is yes, I will run to the store and buy it.
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Tightening your shoelaces?
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Oh, you don't need to run like the marathon to the store, you can walk slowly The piano should still be there !
Kawai RX-3, UST-9.
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well, hopefully the piano is still there if I walk slowly. I was told it will not be there long since some schools are thinking of buying it, and just need to wait for the budget to be approved, etc. The longer I wait, the more likely it will be gone. Hopefully that's not a sales trick, or maybe I'm too naive. Since the Kawai store staff seems really honest, at least compared to the yamaha.
well, what I could do is probably to ask Kawai to match the P22 price, then I will show them the money right away. But I doubt whether they will do that, if they can sell their last one without further discount anyway. I may give it try later this afternoon.
thanks again,
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
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