Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Kawai Aures retrofit?

Hi does anyone know if the Kawai Aures system can be retrofitted to an acoustic upright? I bought the K300 a couple years back and did not opt for the Aures system since I already have a CA97. I'm moving apartment this month and there's really no good place for me to put my digital, so I'm thinking about getting rid of it and install a silent piano system on my K300 instead.

I am sure it can technically be done because the aures or atx3 version of the K300 is the same as a K300 with some added hardware. Whether or not Kawai offers this possibility is another matter. I imagine installing it would be quite costly. The sensor part is more advanced than used in normal after-market silent installations.

You would have to ask a Kawai dealer, but my guess is they don't do this and only install it in their factory. Your options would then be to either install a different silent system (ad-silent?) or to trade in your K300 and CA97 for a silent / aures piano.

I’m sure you’re aware but Aures is different to a silent system. Aures is a silent system with added transducers to the soundboard so you can hear the digital sounds without headphones. Great if you want to play quietly or layer digital and acoustic sounds.

As pianogabe says you could add a third party silent system but I doubt Kawai would add Aures. Feels like a better option would be to sell both and buy a factory built Aures or ATX3.

Thank you pianogabe and dhts. I'm currently trying to sell both and buy an Aures.

I was able to find a Kawai dealer who is willing to take both my pianos as trade in, but of course he offered me the K300 Aures at MSRP. I don't think the K300 Aures is worth trading in a perfect regular K300 and a CA97, plus another $10,000.

I recently sold my 6 month old Aures to my old neighbor for $6000. bought it new for $9000.

It is a great instrument. Cannot be compared to a grand piano but amazing for an acoustic upright and digital silent piano. works well as a VST controller as well.

Thanks for this data point! I think $9000 is a "fair" price based on the limited information we have as Kawai USA customers and what I was expecting. I was actually a bit stunned when he quoted me another $10K on top of my trade ins.

Your neighbor got a great deal. You're a generous guy

He was a great neighbor and I knew the instrument would be enjoyed by his 9 year old daughter who shows interest and aptitude for the piano. She had been learning on a pretty low quality slab.

No, the Aures system is not available as a retrofit.

Hahah, I am not familiar with the situation in the US, but this sounds like a ridiculous deal. The K300 aures costs 9000 euros new in my country (~10,500 USD) , and that includes 21% sales tax. So from this perspective the dealer wants your K300 and CA97 pretty much for free On the other hand, the K300 in the US may be Japanese made, while the ones sold in Europe are Indonesian. Not that I know they are different in other aspects.

Again, not familiar with the US, but you might be able to sell you current pianos well privately. There is a huge shortage of new pianos, especially digital ones.

When buying my K300 ATX3 I traded in a 1-year old Kawai CA-58 for almost 1100 euro.s I bought it for 2300 euros. When reselling it, the dealer asked 2000 euro for it on the website and it was sold quickly... I should have sold it my self privately as others suggested, but I didn't want the trouble then.

Ha I know right?

The used market for everything, including pianos, is really hot right now. I would think you would be able to sell a K300 with no problem, it's a popular model. The CA97 is getting a little older but it's so hard to get a new digital right now that used digitals are selling well.