Hey guys,

I'm in the market for a new upright piano, one that will last me throughout a bachelors in music and probably a masters degree. Seeing as I am a poor college student (even worse, a student of music), I am limited to what local financing deals I can find.

I came across a Kawai K5 in a local store today and it seems to fit my needs as far as it's capabilities and price range are concerned (Approx. $7200).

I was just wondering if there was another similarly spec'd piano you guys would recommend in this range that could give the Kawai a run for it's money, nothing more than $7500 please.

Would really appreciate some help with this guys.

Wm. Knabe & Co. WKV131. A very nice piano with wonderful performance. Will feel and sound very different from the K5. Find one and play it. You will know right away if you like it better.

you might want to try out Bohemia, W Hoffman, Petrof, Perzina, Hailun, Yamaha, and Charles Walter. They all have models in your price range that could compete with the K5, (depending on how you feel they sound). Some of those might even be less expensive for you.

The key is to set your budget, as you have, and then go play as many as you can. What you like is most important. Check out the piano buyer website too.

Good luck with your search.

The piano suggestions given you as a choice are great, I hope you check them out. I particularly like the Petrofs, Wm Knabe, Perzina, and Charles Walter pianos out of the pianos suggested. Don't forget to have a tech look at them no matter who you buy them from. Let us know which ones you prefer and like, we always are interested to know how people like different pianos and what they like about them. Good luck.

We recently bought a new Charles Walter at the price you mention. We had looked at Kawais, including the K5. We had also looked at Yamahas and used Schimmels. We preferred the Charles Walter feel and sound (seemed more broad?). All seemed like fine pianos, but the CW seemed to have more thought in its design and build construction.

A Yamaha U1 is the, spec-per-spec, closest Yamaha model comparison for the Kawai K5.

Hey guys, I appreciate the help and took all of your advice into mind.

I found a fully restored 49" Kawai NS-15 a few days ago and completely fell in love with it's sound and feeling. I didn't feel anything close to this when I played the k5, k3, or Essex that I was looking at.

Will post pictures after it arrives tomorrow.