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For a serious piano student who lacks both space and money, perhaps can't bother his neighbors with the sound, it makes sense. Also for churches, schools, conservatories etc, I see the appeal.

Churches, schools, sure. But Yamaha also seems to be marketing the AG line towards DP and AP enthusiasts, which is the part I don't get. AP enthusiasts won't likely be satisfied with any current DP (as a full replacement) and DP enthusiasts are largely consigned to rolling their own.

The NU1 comes across as the logical next step down from the N1. Price and feature wise. Yamaha has hybrids that cover all the market. I don't really know what else Yamaha can offer to complete their line of hybrids. If a school, church, conservatory, or just someone needing to practice on an acoustic, but can't swing it because of space, money, or location (neighbors) the NU1 becomes an attractive instrument. I will say in order for it to be worth it, it will need to be several thousand less than the N1, since you're not getting a grand piano action. That in itself is worth the price of admission for most AvantGrand owners I'd be willing to bet.

So I guess I was wrong...the NU1 looks to be around $6,000 MSRP

CFX samples eh - that's great. Now if they could just release an NM1 (MODULE) so I could connect it to my $1K Casio controller, I might get one. :P

Greg.

+1

I also don't understand what customers they are targeting here. The list price is going to be interesting to find out. Several thousand less than N1 and it will be a hit. If the price is close to that of the N1 this will be a difficult product to sell. My guess is that this action costs about the same to make as the one in N1 thus the margins are going to be much smaller on this piano.

Who knows, maybe the sales of acoustic uprights are down and Yamaha decided to market this new model as an afterthought to unload their action inventory.

Seriously though, the sales of uprights keep getting going lower.

http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/uspiano.htm

Good point Dave! That would make sense.

Just a technicality, but surely we shouldn't be calling this model an "AvantGrand" since it's not a grand at all, but an upright?

The sound is from a grand... But the word hybrid seems fitting this time...

AvantUpright. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

Next up, the AvantSpinet: the looped sound of a 9' CFX with super short keys, 36" case, 5" full-range speaker / 3W mono amp.

You have to continue with the Yamaha naming tradition.

from large to small model:
AvantGrand
ArtStudio
Studio64 (refers to a shorter keyboard with less keys at each end)
UprightIdea
Vertigo
VertialPiano
SitnSpinet



If Yamaha uses any of these - I want my royalty check!

"SitnSpinet" is inspired -- that gets my vote.

Here's a Yamaha press release already posted in the NU-1 thread on the Piano Forum:

http://www.harmonycentral.com/blogs...id-piano-offers-realistic-upright-action

Does anyone know where Zachary found the MSRP (of $6,000)? I can't find any references to it. Was that a speculation?

The only justification for its price is its use of CFX samples. Which makes me think that the whole AG line-up will be overhauled (and all their prices raised) very soon, and their current CF-IIIS samples replaced or supplemented with CFX ones, just as CFX is replacing CF-IIIS in the world's concert halls.

People who don't know the history and genesis of pianos may not realize that uprights are very much a late compromise due to pressure of space in homes in the 19th century. Cristofori (credited with the invention of the piano) based it on the harpsichord which had (and still has) horizontal strings circa 1711. The AG N1 takes up no more space than an upright, and it simply makes no sense to me why anyone would want to make (or buy) a compromise with upright action that's hardly any cheaper and takes up the same amount of space as one that has grand piano action. Except for the updated sound samples of course.......

I'm checking further up the chain of command but the preliminary information I'm getting is that this piano does NOT have a CFX sample in it.

This is all very strange. What I would expect based on the info I've seen is that both the N1 and the NU1 would use CFX samples.

Gvfarns, if you take the link in the OP's initial link with the posted pictures on facebook, there is a comment from Grand Piano Haus that price will be $5,999. Bennevis, I agree with you to a degree about why go for the NU-1, but you have to remember the N1 is still $3,000 more expensive, which for a lot of people is quite a step up in price. I still the NU-1 as a smart and logical step in Yamaha's hybrid piano market. They have the market cornered.