I've spent 6 days now with my new Kawai CA91. This is the Kawai with the spruce soundboard in addition to 6 speakers. Unbelievable acustic reality sound and touch. I enjoy the touch better than the Yamaha I play on in the piano studio where I take lessons. I have AKG over-ear headphones for night playing - incredible. My piano playing has improved, as compared to the 40 year old Kimball spinet I had hauled away. Can't say enough about this DP.

The "voices" are amazing. Playing 12 bar blues with the "Jazz Ensemble" voice is wonderfully fun.

Cheers.

Congratulations!
I've had mine since easter and my playing improved too. [Previous piano Yam CLP130]. However, within a couple of weeks keys started to squeak and have become progressively worse with use. Some are also uneven height. Three months down the line I am still waiting for Kawai to fix it under warranty. It would be interesting to know if you get the same problem, or whether I was just unlucky. [Kawai? have issued a tech sheet showing how to lube the 'action' using teflon powder, so the problem isn't unknown]

Keep your fingers crossed.

Congrats!!!

You got yourself the hottest console DP on the market, enjoy!

Regards,

Claude

Congratulations!
I did the same choice one month ago and i am very happy. Great touch and great sound.
Stefano

Thanks for your reply under my topic of "Re: How close are we to digital beating acoustic pianos?"

I enjoyed reading about your experience so far with the CA91. Please share more! Also, wondering: what is a "good price" on a CA91?

Maserman1,

I had problems with my Kawai MP9500 not so long ago and ended up using furniture polish on the action. You mentioned a tech sheet that recommends teflon powder. Do you have any further details about this tech sheet? Is it obtained directly from Kawai?

Dear all,

I would like to know how the piano sound from the speakers and soundboard of the CA91 compares to the sound from just the headphones, as I only could test it by the mp3 from the kawai site and someone told me that the true sound was far more rich and warm.


What's your opinion? Does the soundboard add just vibration or also enhances the sound realism?


Thank you!

Andy.

Erbs : Tech sheet was obtained from Italian distributor [Furcht Pianoforti]. I don't know if it was issued by Kawai because the header had been cut off. It calls for removal of any grease incorrectly applied to the capstan screw, renewal of slip tape, and application of teflon powder to new slip tape with fine brush. If no grease found on screw just apply teflon powder to existing tape. Teflon powder spec is 'KTL-450'
andgold : Yes, soundboard does improve realism of what you hear, but base notes are slightly better with sennheisers, overall I prefer to play without headphones.

Mrs G - My first impression is the touch is so very exact - meaning, the gradation in weight, and general feel is perfect as you much up and down the keyboard doing runs for example. No "unique" keys. The CA91 has many more sounds than the 71 or 51 models, and well worth it. The Choir vocals are simply amazing.

I paid $4200 out the door including delivery, set up, and hauling away my spinet. (tax on top of this). The price started at $4900. Dealer said he bases price on whether he fronts the money to purchase from Kawai and has it sit on the floor (how long it's sat on the floor), or on the other end of the spectrum, if I can add my piano with his bulk order he does ever few months(which is what I did). He saves, and passes it down. I live in an expensive area, so I imagine I paid higher than most anywhere in the US 'cept maybe NY?

I haven't read anywhere on PW whether folks plug their DPs into surge protectors - I purchased one right away, as our power goes out once a year at least during big storms, gotta protect my investment!

andgold
Good question. Yes, you do feel vibration with the soundboard.The sound seems to come from "further away" when playing live - very natural sounding. With the headphones, it's as if you're "inside the piano". I could swear that the upper notes are slightly louder in my right ear and lower notes in my left (with the headphones). But this could be my imagination. Maybe someone else could verify? Bachmaniac, do you know?

Thanks to both Maserman1 and 4sCompany.

I wish you enjoy your CA91s for many years.

The description of the headphones source being as from inside the piano is so illustrative and exactly describes my supposition about how the speakers+board sound must be.


By the way, my other choice would be a Roland HP207 or a Yamaha CLP280. It's hard to decide among three products I have never been in front of.


You're helping me to weight the importance on this innovation from Kawai. Any extra comparative impressions?


Best regards,

Andrés.