Kawai RM3 Grand with Let-off action or Yamaha CLP465 GH3 Real Grand Expression action? What do you think is the best? Cheers!

I have the Kawai CA63 with RM3 and it has the best keyboard action I have ever experienced. I have had a couple of Yamaha's (CLP 360 was one I think) and have found the key action to be a little bit too heavy for my taste.

Is this a poll? Put me down for RM3.

Great! I am waiting for my Kawai CS6 to arrive late next week and was just trying to compare it to a Yamaha CLP465. I know the shape is quite different lol

The best action is the one you like.

+1

What does best mean anyway other than this!

I completely agree. I've been shopping for a DP for a few months and I've come to learn that key action and sound are very personal and everybody has their own personal preferences on what they like or don't like.

The term "real grand expression" has nothing to do with the action, it is the sound engine, or some element of it.

GH3 action has been around for a long time. They seem to be very reliable. It is a heavy action (the heaviest in my opinion - purely in terms of weighting GH3 is significantly heavier than my AvantGrand).

GH3 is not Yamaha's premium action whereas RM3 with let-off simulation is Kawai's premium (DP) action. I've owned both (several times over in the case of the Yamaha) and whilst there is certainly room for personal preference here, in a general sense I don't think there's any comparison at all - the Kawai is superior.

I have a Kawai CA63 (RM3 action without escapement) and few days ago played a Yamaha CLP-440 with GH3 action. I can honestly say that RM3 is much better but that's my personal preference. To be precise, I didn't like the initial resistance of the keys, it feels like the first 1-2mm of key travel experience some internal friction which isn't realistic to me. And I am talking about static resistance, not about dynamic inertness.

Yes, well put. There is a tangible static resistance to GH3....it seems to take quite a push to get the keys moving.

In my experience RM3 is the best non-acoustic piano action. PHA III is a great action as well but bottoms out a little hard at times, but never in the V-Piano...go figure. If your going for an action/sound to replace an acoustic, Kawai's higher end digitals are hard to beat.

BTW Steve, how do you like that MP10? I loved it and the CA93...almost went that route vs the AvantGrand! In the end though, the AvantGrand is the pinnacle of DPs in terms of acoustic piano substitute.

Hi Zachary - love the MP10. So smooth in terms of action. And I like the sounds too! The bottom of the keystroke is a bit mushy as others have said but in terms of control and tactile pleasure whilst playing the Kawai action is the best I've used other than the AG. I think PHA-III is the fastest action, extremely agile but just doesn't feel anything like as pleasurable to play. Anyway you should be hammering away on that N1 of yours - it's a cheaper way to loosen it up than a regulation!

I went to our Kawai dealer here in Sofia after work and played many Kawai instruments, mainly MP6, some of their lower level digital pianos with older actions and a K2 upright, finally an old August Forster upright from the 1940s. Having in my mind also the Ymaha GH3 action which I played recently, I can order the actions from best to worst in this way:

Kawai K2 real upright action > Kawai RM3 action > Kawai RH action > August Forster Upright action > Yamaha GH3 action > Kawai AHA IV-f action

I am amazed at how close the Kawai RM3 and RH actions are, everything feels the same - weight and static resistance, with the only difference being that RM3 feels very smooth, like you're moving a tightly coupled mechanism without any loose parts, while the RH feels very slightly looser. However the escapement in the RH feels great, so I believe RM3 with escapement would be better than just RM3.

my vote is for Kawai too - love the action on the CA63- i have a Yamaha GH action and it is heavy (although they are less heavy compared to GHE 10 years ago)

Another Kawai vote - chose the CA63 RM3 w/o escapement over Roland and Yamaha - no contest IMO

Hi guys! thank you all for your comments! so I did well ordering the new Kawai I will post my own review, pics and videos hopefully soon. Less than two weeks to get it and counting down!