Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Yamaha T118 vs. Kawai K2. Which one?

I’ve been looking for a piano for my 7 y.o. daughter. She is just starting to learn. I’ve narrowed my search between the Yamaha T118 and Kawai K2. Can you offer some opinions about either one? Which one should I go with? I’d like to stay in the T118 and K2 price range.

As the Yamaha T118 is sort of a clone of the U1 it would be fairer to compare it to the K3 Kawai. The T118 has the same scale design, key action as the U1.

Since the Kawai K3 costs more than T118, should I consider the T118 as the better buy?

No. I thought the T-118 was 46", whereas the U1 is 48". Please correct me if I am wrong. The last I heard, the T-118 is made in China.

The K-3 is 48", has Kawai's Millenium III action, and is made in Japan.

All of those factors mean the Kawai will cost more. With that being said....
Buy the piano that sounds and plays the best to you.

The T118 measures 46.75" tall from floor to top of lid. The bottom board is notched out to accomodate the larger U1 plate. The bottom of the plate nearly touches the floor. In the U1 the bottom of the plate rides about 1.5" above the top of the bottom board. The T118 has all of the inner workings of the U1 model.

Yes, the T118 is build by Yamaha, in a Yamaha owned and controled factory in China. "Yamaha's motto is one brand, one quality."

The T118 is not a U1, regardless of mottos. Japanese-made instruments, be they Yamaha or Kawai, are generally better than pianos made in China or Indonesia.

IMHO the Millenium III action and "full" warranty give an edge to the K-2, if it and the T118 are priced similarly.

The Millenium action probably won't matter to most people. In this case it probably boils down to which you like the sound of and maybe dealer discount. Being based on the U1, could give the T118 a bigger sound than the smaller K2.

Just so we are clear, to my knowledge the Kawai K2 is produced in the Kawai factory in Jakarta, Indonesia. Japanese built Kawais start with the K3 model and up.

Hear both and play both. Get the one that calls to you.

I'm sure you meant that the K-3 and above were made in Japan.

The K-2, made as you say in Indonesia, is most comparable to the T118, made in China, not the Japanese-made (and thus much more expensive) U1.

The "advantages" of the Millennium action and the better warranty should also be considered.

Good catch. I've made the edit. The Millennium action is very good. It is acclaimed by most technicians. Some players like it and others prefer the touch on the Yamaha. Not a reason to buy a Kawai, but certainly not a reason to shy away from one. The value of the "better" warranty will only accrue to subsequent owners if any. Yes, the Kawai warranty is transferable for its duration. I still would suggest that the touch and tone and overall performance of the Yamaha T118 is more appropriately compared to the K3. A more fitting comparison to the Kawai K2 might be the Cable Nelson (Yamaha) CN116 for size, features, and performance.

Marty,

Larry Fine (in his ratings) and I personally, respectfully disagree.

The Japanese-made K-3 is a better piano than the T118 and a competitive piano when compared to the U1.

I thought that the K2 and K3 have only single-felted hammers whereas the K5 has the double-felted hammers (for longer-lasting hammers), like the T118. Doesn't the T118 also have one extra backpost (offsetting more of the high string tension) when comparing to the K2 and the K3? I think the K5 has as many backposts as the T118. Oh yeah, the T118 is also 2 inches taller than the K2 for better bass...I think those are some solid aspects you can observe and compare.

Steve,

The original poster, eepunk, was not even considering the purchase of a Kawai K3. His focus is on the K2. We can agree to disagree on the T118 vs K3 comparison, but I think the K2 vs the T118 performance is pretty clear.

You have had a certain bias against Chinese built instruments, and have been very clear in this instance. It seemed you were drawing the Japanese vs Chinese-built line in the sand. I just wanted to clarify that the Kawai K2 is not Japanese built.

Perhaps some day we can have a beer and you can tell me specifically where the Kawai K3 is a "better" piano than the Yamaha T118; Scale design? Hammer specs? Back construction? Soundboard specs? Key weighting? Trap work? If you can point out manufacturing shortfalls, from Yamaha's Chinese factory, I would be very interested in seeing those. Several PTG members cannot find them.

Yes, when you play the K3 and you play the T118 they play and sound different. "Better" is a subjective judgement, LF not withstanding.

Thank you all for the inputs and the information. Comparing K3 to T118 is not a practical discussion for me at this point, since the K3 is not in my price range.
We'll be going in this week to see the T118. They are taking it out of the crate and getting it ready for us to see it and hear it this week.

I've read, in this forum, the T118 would be a decent practice piano. Would it make a difference to take lesson on a Kawai but practice on T118? I think the place that my daughter will be taking her lessons use one of the smaller Kawai. I am pretty sure it is not K2, though.

The piano your child practices on daily will do more to shape their technique than the one they play once a week for half an hour. There should be no problem. Imagine changing teachers two or three times before you are done.