Hello all!

I'm in need of a new digital piano. My 4 years old GEM RP800 is slowly breaking up. Two keys have already almost totally lost their velocity sensitivity...

Have always loved the GEM sound, samples are not the best for sure, but the resonance effects make it sound really nice for its age.

Kawai seems to be the closest nowadays. Here in Helsinki, Finland the local Kawai dealer (Musiikki-Hellas) just went out of business so testing is difficult. Check their page, after 110 years I'd say this one is pretty sad http://www.hellas.fi/piano/ :|

Anyways as I bought the GEM based on youtube videos and demo sounds, I may aswell buy Kawai that way too. The questions:

1) Being pretty tall player, knee clearance is always an issue for me. Could some of you measure the distance from floor to the bottom of the CA63/93 keyboard so I know if I can play and move my legs freely

2) CA63 needs to be assembled at home, but can the CA93 somehow be dissambled if I someday need to move the piano to another apartment?

3) Comparing to Yamaha and Roland keyboards, would you say the Kawai is heavier to play? GEM has always been pretty heavy, so heavy touch would be my preference.

4) Will these models get an update anytime soon? I always end up buying the model that just gets replaced after a couple of months...

Based on this forum, reviews, features, the looks and Thomann price I'd say a satisfying answer to atleast 2 out of 4 questions will make me a Kawai customer


Regards,

Mikko

1. I have just measured my CA63. Length from the floor to the bottom surface is ~64.5cm
2. It can be disassembled but needs two people. Takes 5-10 minutes and you need a screwdriver.
3. I've compared it many times to other brands and models and I am pretty positive the RM3 action is among the heaviest (if not the heaviest at all).
4. Kawai James could help, I am not an insider.

1. Excellent, thanks man! GEM is only 63,5cm and thats enough for me. Roland LX10F for example was much less. Of course it could be lifted but that wouldn't look very elegant.

2. Heh I was pretty sure it wouldn't be possible. This will draw me towards CA93.

3. It will then suite my taste very well, and if not, the learnable velocity curve will do the trick.

4. I'm not gonna wait, I'll order CA93 tonight

Thanks for the quick reply!

Zdravey CyberGene

Are you sure to disassemble a CA93 in 5-10 minutes? I guess you are talking about your CA63. Airstar asked specifically about disassembling a CA93.

Hi ripe_md (thanks for greeting me in Bulgarian ), you are indeed right I was talking about my CA63. I have opened the CA63/93 manual and noticed that there are assembly instructions for CA63 only which makes me think CA93 is more complex due to its advanced speaker system and comes probably already assembled from the factory. Thus, it may not be possible to disassemble it (or at least do it at home yourself). I am sorry if I have misled Airstar about that, I haven't noticed that he was asking specifically for CA93, my mistake. Thanks for the clarification.

Airstar,

Kawai instruments are distributed throughout Finland by 'Musicgear Wholesale Finland Ltd'. For more information, please refer to http://www.kawai.co.jp/worldwide/world/index.html

As Cybergene notes, because of its soundboard speaker system the CA93 is shipped from the factory pre-assembled in a single (large!) box. It is not possible (nor recommended) to disassemble the CA93.

Regarding your fourth question, while new models are constantly in development, I doubt we will be seeing a new CA model for a little while yet.

Kind regards,
James
x

Hello again,

I placed an order in Thomann.de for CA93. However it's out of stock currently, so I may change to CA63 instead if the wait time is very long.

Moving the piano as one piece will be pretty difficult, but of course it won't happen often.

I'll have to think this one, thanks James for the link. Nearest dealer still in business seems to be in about 80 kilometres from me and they even may have stock.

Airstar,



I believe if you have already decided upon a CA93 you should wait until the instrument is in stock.



80 kilometres isn't so far in my opinion. Given the importance of your decision, I recommend paying them a visit to play-test the current generation CA instruments. If they stock the CA93 and you are able to reach a good deal with the salesperson, all the better.
Of course, do give them a call beforehand to check the current availability of Kawai DPs.

Kind regards,
James
x

Are you sure? For reference, in this thread the differences between the CA93 and CA63 are listed (also the ones that are not given in the Kawai marketing material & user manual):

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthrea...tml#Post1474318

By the way, I just had a peek at Thomann myself and saw that the CA93 Satin Black is in stock, while the CA93 Rosewood is expected to arrive in about two weeks.