had the pleasure of playing a Yamaha C3 XA piano (6'1") -- really impressive tonal palette & action. This line evidently inherits advancements made to their CF line.

Anyone have any experience with the XAs? in particular, has anyone played the C6 XA (7')? Anyone have any info on the CFs, e.g. the CF4 or 6 (availability in the US, pricing, etc.)?

Entheo,

P.B. gives a SMP of $ 84k, 94k for the CF4, Cf6 respectively.

To me seems quite pricy as both are more expensive than e.g the Bösenorfer 185 Cs & 200 CS!
In Europe these are equally high priced, e.g the CF4 is € 69k.

About the C3XA you say:


How would you - as Mason & Hamlin owner - describe the tonal character as I suppose you must be use to quite a different sound?

Good sound samples of the C3XA can be found here:

Chris Venables - C3XA

schwammerl.

schwammerl - yes, my M&H Model A has a very different sound, a sound i fell in love with 'at first sight' 11 years ago. i would describe it as a bold, i daresay american sound; not timid in the least.

however, over the past couple of years i have been wanting a larger piano ("larger is generally better when it comes to pianos", my esteemed tech tells me (he does the pianos for CSO and Ravinia concerts)), a piano with a wider palette of tonal colors and ability to create more subtle expressive nuances (e.g. to effortlessly go from pianissimo to forte within a single phrase, technique notwithstanding), and a more singing quality in the upper registers (hard to achieve with smaller pianos' shorter strings). in spite of my dislike of previous yamahas played the dealer encouraged me to try the C3 XA, and i was very impressed (it being only 6'1" as well). the XA price point is considerably lower than the CF, but whatever they're borrowing from the CF is being put to good effect.

of the many pianos played in my search over the past couple of years only two have spoken to me -- a used steinway A at steinway HQ in NYC and this C3 XA.

Entheo,

I see what you mean by your search for more expresiveness.

If I may read in between the lines this could also mean sound taste also evolves with time passing as otherwise I could imagine you could also look at e.g. a M&H AA or even BB (although I do not personally know the M&H pianos - not sold in Europe directly).

On the other hand you also found something in the new C3XA which you could not find in Yamahas you played in previous times which could indicate Yamaha went (secretely) through an evolution too.

If you could find a recently built Yamaha S4 or S6 it could be worthwhile for you to give these a try too (prices are in between the CXA and CF series and it looks like special deals can be had now as it would not suprise me if Yamaha would phase out the S pianos sooner or later).

I recently heard an S6 in a medium sized concert set up and was amazed by it's capabilities; equally impressive was a S4 played in the dealer' showroom (same dealer who delivered the S6 for the concert).
He sees it as no coincidence that the Premium Yamaha grands much improved since Yamaha acquired Bösendorfer, but this may be a bit fat stretched?

Anyhow Yamaha must feel quite confident when daring pricing the CF series at that price level. The only hurdle yet for them to overcome is the 'name Yamaha'. This still does not sound like 'the name Steinway' in many ears.

schwammerl.

thanks for the tip about the "S" line schwammerl; i'll see if any lurk about the chicagoland area.

i am looking for more help in the expression department -- for example, i think bechsteins are terrific pianos but their sound palette is so 'pure' that for an amateur like me i need a little extra something to inspire.

and yes it's true that nameplates carry sway in certain parlors, but not in mine -- sound and build quality trump all. although yamaha's new premium pianos occupy the pricing stratosphere of the big boys there's a healthy discount to be had (unlike steinway).