This may sound a little crazy but my wife and I were going to start lessons on Wednesdays for piano. We bought a piano but we were thinking that since we work the same hours and have the same free time to practice we might be fighting for practice time. We are thinking to also buy a digital because one could practice with headphones while the other uses the piano. We have about a $2000 budget but should we spend all of it just for an extra? Or are there better cheaper ones for the purpose we want to use it for? If the thought is get the best on what you can afford, we were thinking the home setup for the Roland FP7. We were also wondering why there are hardly any posts for the Kawai CE200 that we saw a video on the Kawai site. Is there something wrong with it?

There is nothing wrong with the Kawai CE200 at all. I just bought one after extensive research and testing, and am *very* happy with my choice. ($1600 promotion sale - bench is always included.) (BTW I was looking for an acoustic equivalent after not having played classical for 20 years. Bells and whistles weren't important for me.)

I see several unfortunate reasons that there isn't much written about the CE200 on this forum. But we can change that right here!

1. The CE200 is only available in the US and Canada market.

2. According to manufacturer's dictate, it's sold through the "muscial instrument" stores, i.e. Guitar Center, etc., and not in the Kawai dealerships. However musical instrument stores tend to not carry this "higher end" Kawai that does not have the techno features of say MP4 or MP8, or the portability. In fact for whatever other reasons, they may not even carry Kawais at all. (I know Guitar Center doesn't.)

3. The CE200's "competition" would be the more widely-known Yamaha YDP 223 or 323 console looking-like pianos. The higher-price Nocturne N100 gets a lot of hype too for its contemporary look and bigger sound. Yamaha also has a big name and is carried by many retailers and easily found online. The Casios PX800 is lower in price and competes in a different way. Finally at $1600-$1700, the Roland FP7 and the Roland RD700-SX get a lot of coverage, seem to offer many techno features, which the Rolands tend to do, and finally Rolands are also carried by many stores.

4. If people research Kawais at the Kawai website, they see the portables (EP2, the MPs) under "Professional Product". The CE200 is the only product under that same category that isn't portable. I think people who look at that category most likely want a portable and/or more techno features, so the CE200 gets overlooked. If people want to go for a "home piano" or go upscale, they look under "Digital Piano", and see the CN, CA series. So they end up going to the sole Kawai dealerships, who aren't supposed to sell CE200. So the CE200 just falls through the crack - a real shame.

I live in the greater San Francisco area, and you would think in such a big metropolitan area that I can find a CE200 as easily as I can find Yamahas. But within a 20-mile radius, there is only one store that carries it, and that store IMO caters to a slightly upscale clientele. (BTW it's a really good store.)

For me, the CE200 wins hands down over the Yamaha YDP. The retailer I bought it from totally agrees and he sells both. The CE200 has better touch (it has all wood keys, just like the good old MP9000 and the upscale CA series, with a very slightly different action,) much much better speaker sound, and even has 30 rhythms. It also is much better deal than the Yamaha P140 whose seemingly lower price doesn't include a stand, bench, dust cover, and which has much smaller speakers, and only one pedal. I think the Casio can compete with it due to a lower price, but is otherwise no comparison in terms of touch or sound. I did consider the Roland FP7, but after playing both extensively back to back, it was clear to me that the touch and expressiveness of the CE200 was the hands-down winner. Besides the Roland FP7 at $1600 is without stand or bench, dust cover, has smaller speakers and only 1 pedal.

I also tested the higher-price Yamaha CLPs, and the Roland HP20x series, and the Kawai CA51 and CA91. I like the Kawai best (personal taste.)With the CA51 costing 50-80% more than the CE200, it's a no brainer. If you look at the specs, they are almost identical, except for a slightly different action on the CA51. (The CE200 feels ever slightly heavier, but still *very* nice.) The CE200 also doesn't have "note release" effect, but I can't discern that difference. I even asked the Kawai Product support, and was told that the sound samples are identical.

If you are lucky enough to find a store selling the CE200, by all means give it a try. I also almost missed it due to stores not carrying it, missing it on the Kawai site, and lack of coverage on this forum. I am very glad I found it and I can't recommend it enough!

Thanks Sunny,
I was thinking if I ordered the CE200, it would be online because no one has them in this area either. I see them online for $1700 which is about the same as the Roland FP7 with the desk, phones, dust cover and a bench (Actually about $1900 but still within my budget). The FP7 thread gives me what I need to know on that model. Thanks for the info on the CE200.

If there is an authorized Kawai dealership near you, you may try the CA51 for the touch. It's not exactly the same action as the CE200, but very similar. (AWA Grand Pro II vs AWA Pro II - subtle difference as mentioned in other threads on this forum.) The sound is essentially the same through good headphones. This way you can get a a decent sense of the Kawai touch and sound before buying online sight unseen. BTW, it's a decent price online, especially with no tax.

On a separate note (no pun intended), your piano teacher, may have some suggestion for you too.

Best of luck and enjoy your playing!

Just one thing I forgot to mention in case it's important to you. While the CE200 has all the same techno features as CA51 (except note release effect), the user interface on the CE200 is quite lame. It has only a 3-digit LED display, and you'll need to look at the manual to get to a number of the functions, e.g. octave shift, changing string resonance, etc. For me, I will probably use the harder-to-get-to features once in a blue moon, so it's no big deal. But in my enthusiasm, I failed to mention this in my first post, so it's only fair that you know about this weakness (the only one IMO!)

I can email you the manual on private email if you like, or request it from their product support guy online. (I got excellent responses.) Let me know if you want the manual.

Sunny, thanks for your help. After all that, I decided to get the FP7. I live right on the border of Texas/New Mexico. There is a music store about 30 minutes away in New Mexico that matched the price of one internet dealer. It includes the FP7, dust cover, the cabinet stand, headphones (probably cheap), Roland dP8 sustain pedal,and a bench for $1859. No tax since it's across state lines.