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I can confirm! On my old P-120S, I contacted them via chat or email (can't remember). They told me the correct part numbers and directed me to instructions on replacing the parts. Super quick and helpful.

Fortunately, I've needed no such service (yet) on the Kawai. Hopefully, like the Yamaha, it will be 20 years!

LOL! I don't know about benches being for snobs, BUT...

I found the default storage bench from Kawai to be not so comfortable. So I was sighing, looking for a nice comfy adjustable bench, and not happy about the prospect of spending another 200-600$ on a nice one. In the meantime, I used a dining room chair.

Fast forward 6+ months, still using the chair. It is comfortable and the perfect height. And matches my decor. And cheap!

Then I discovered that some performers have actually used chairs. Plus, my back is not in the greatest shape for a variety of reasons.

So I said, "be kind to yourself!" Save bucks and your back at the same time!

I now looked a bit and learned that a good comfortable piano bench must be slanted, like this:

What aspect of a bench makes it comfortable? What makes another bench uncomfortable?

I ask because I've not yet found an uncomfortable bench. And I've not spent even $100 on one.

-No adjustment capability (leading to poor leg placement/pivoting).
-An effect I can only describe as "saddle numbness" - on a surface with no padding or poor padding.

"Comfort" to me doesn't mean sitting on a cloud; it means retaining the capability of feeling all parts of my body whilst playing.

The best bench would be a bench with both adjustable height and adjustable angle. Unfortunately, I can find only benches with fixed angle, like in the picture above.
On a level bench, you need to sit on the front half of the bench, not too far back, thus in effect somewhat imitating the slanted design. And still the edge is cutting into the blood flow of your legs. A level bench makes your back tense and tired if you try keeping it straight, and if you are slouching, you get back pain, and it is a wrong posture for playing anyway. With a slanted bench you get a straight relaxed spine, sit on the full bench, not on the edge, and the edge is not cutting into your legs.

An alternative to a slanted bench is perhaps a chair with a (short?) back. The back should be slightly sloping forward, or with the specific lumbar support.

Thanks to WalthervonStolzing and James for the info on page turning in forScore and PiaBookPlayer!

We made a 2nd visit to our local Kawai dealer to check out the CA97. He's had the floor model for about 2 months and it doesn't have any of the problems discussed here in the forum.

We placed the order but it will be at least a month before it arrives.

I don't know if it's all of Canada or just this store, but the included bench is non-adjustable and non-storage.

The floor model doesn't have any of the problems - so perhaps you should get that floor model.
A new one may or may not have such problems.
But do you mean CA97 or CA79? I don't think you can get a new CA97 (it is discontinued), and its problems might be very different, they are not described here.

Ah I see, I do see some retailers also offer piano moving service, maybe I'll try to contact them to see if they can arrange the piano mover for me as well.

That doesn’t seem like a weird question at all, and I’m very curious to know what others use. On the actual keys I use a very gentle microfibre cloth, one made for cleaning glass, and I just gently use it to wipe off any dust and oil from my fingers. On the outside of the piano I use a normal microfibre cloth that picks up dust. I also keep a piano cover on it which really helps keep dust out, and I dust the cover every week too.

Darn, I had a typo in my post above announcing that we ordered a piano. It's too late to be able to edit the post, and I don't think I can delete it, so here it is again. It was indeed a CA79 that we ordered (not a CA97)!

We made a 2nd visit to our local Kawai dealer to check out the CA79. He's had the floor model for about 2 months and it doesn't have any of the problems discussed here in the forum.

We placed the order but it will be at least a month before it arrives.

I waited for my CA99 EP a month too. From May 5 to June 11.
Because of EP. Non-EP (also black) was available in one or two days.

Oh, almost missed. I have joined the 200 spam posts club!

Thank you, James! I didn't realize that there was White Maple finish available for CA79. When I saw the picture I just assumed that it was Satin White lol

Now that you mentioned it, the finish does seem a bit more cream than white. I thought it was just a warm toned picture.

And US purchases do not include headphones by default, correct?

Yes, white is lighter:




That's correct, however dealers sometimes include headphones if they offer a package.

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks for your initial impressions. Mine arrives in 5 days and after reading 47 pages over the last couple of days I was getting nervous.
Happy playing.

No more reading this forum as an observer - since the last weekend I am a happy owner of my CA79R - I must say I love it. Thank you ALL on this thread and few other threads about Kawai CA79&99 - your posts are really great source of info. I have tested my piano against some problems that were reported here - no issues so far - maybe except the below:

1. the LCD backlight does not turn off - I wonder if Kawai can fix it or maybe they haven't envisioned a possibility to completely turn off the LCD (the greyish light is really visible in a darker room!)

2. when switching to PianoRemote the behavior of the built in LCD in the piano is even worse - there is some crazy static picture all the time. I guess one of the reasons why to switch control to my my mobile or tab could be to save the lifetime of the built-in LCD (not to mention that the LCD is of acceptable but rather average quality - my 2-year old phone is 10x better) - why don't you Kawai provide us with an option to switch off the LCD when the control is passed to PianoRemote app? KawaiJones - please, comment on that.

3. It amazes me that so many people assume that differences between 79 and 99 are more or less the same as between 78 and 98. They are much bigger - it's not just the soundboard. The cabinet shape is completely different - I like much more the 79-lid type, but many others will prefer the 99-style. If you are a Jazz / Boogie / Honky Tonk lover, then you WILL NOT get them in 79. There are about 20 other sounds that you will be missing too - CHECK THE PAGE 79 in the User Manual that you can download for free. Kawai - don't confuse people with instructions on pages 20 and 21 - you are listing there some options for Rendering Type and Piano Variations that are NOT available in 79 (and you do it without any disclaimer).

If Kawai fixed the LCD problems 1 & 2 - then I'd be 100% happy with my CA79.
With regards to point 3 - Kawai, please add the footnote on pages 20 and 21 - even though I was aware of limited sound set in CA79, I got overexcited for a minute when I saw Vintage, Boogie and Honky Tonk there - and then very quickly disappointed (partially with your manual and with my naivety ;-) At least now I do have an excuse to keep my Dexibell SX7 box (btw - Kawai, why don't you copy the model of downloadable sounds?! If not the perfect action part of CA, I'd buy a DP from Dexibell just for their customizable sounds approach. Now I've got both anyway ;-)

January 11, 2018

Initially I also thought that the sounds indicated on p. 20-21 were all present on the CA79, and not actually seeing them on the display, I assumed it was a bug. Later a kind forum user pointed out to me that the CA99 has a few more presets. However this does not bother me personally, I don't use the preset sounds at all, while I give great importance to the possibility of customizing all the parameters with the virtual technician, note by note.
This possibility is not yet available, but James has written that it will be implemented in a future update.

Turning off the backlight will also be implemented in a future update.


Yes, it would be nice. Personally I would also leave the possibility to delete all the other non-piano sounds (organs, harpsi, etc. that do not have a great quality, compared to the piano samples), leaving the user the possibility to load a single instrument with a better sampling (but I have no idea how much memory all non-piano sounds take up)

Great! somebody else has an SX7!
While waiting for my CA99 to arrive, I also bought Dexibell SX7.
I did try it with CA99 to make sure that the combination is working - and it is - but so far I haven't tried to load any Platinum pianos into it.
BTW, as SX7 accepts also sf2 soundfonts, here is this guy showcasing some of the soundfonts he found. Some of them are pretty good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7wTR4qe210