Well, I'm excited. Just got off the phone with my wife, and my new Yamaha PF500 was coming into my living room. Ironic, since I'm helping to move my old upright to its new home this afternoon.

It's been quite a process. I kept telling myself that I couldn't get a new piano until I moved to a higher level of ability. I'm an adult beginner, have been playing for about 2 years, working my way through the Alfred series (will I ever finish with book 2?). Anyway, realizing that my old upright was a good learner piano, but not a good candidate for any type of rebuild, I impulsively posted an ad in the local paper, and sold it to a good home the first day the ad came out.

Like others, I struggled with whether to go with digital or acoustic, really believing that I'd go acoustic because I tend to be a purist about such things. I even had a deposit down on a used Charles Walter studio, but decided I didn't like its tone well enough.

So...I decided that, rather than rush into buying an acoustic, I'd get an inexpensive digital. Originally, was looking more at models around $1000, comparing the new Casio privia px400 to the yamaha p120 and kawai ES3. I decided on the P120 based upon feel of the keyboard, the quality of the piano sound, and other users experiences (posted here and elsewhere). Well, I went to order one (from emusicgear), got to talking to Dave about various questions, and he offered me a good package deal on the PF500. I was very interested because that is the model I had picked out previously, but decided that I didn't want to spend that much on a digital. I saw the digital concept as a great way to have an inexpensive instrument for fun and learning, but not as a serious musical commitment. So I purchased the PF500 with bench and a midi sofware package and free shipping.

My hope is that, with the PF500, I'm getting bothe the flexibility of a digital instrument and a close approximation to the acoustic piano experience. Will have to see about that.

I'm thinking of getting a powered subwoofer to help with the low end and possibly a set of wireless headphones for the ultimate practice experience. Any experience with either of these?

Thanks for listening.

congratulations on your pf500! you certainly got a pretty good deal on that. it's a great piano and i like it very much as well. hope you enjoy it!

Good price for the PF500. Way better than P120 in features, sounds, and amplification. You don't need seperate keyboard stands. It already has 3 pedals. Look nice for the living room too.
Subwoofer may not be needed. Try it out first with onboard amplification. If you need one, you don't really need huge one. Average size is more than enough.

I just bought a PF-500 on the 7th as well, what a coincidence! I didn't get quite the deal that you got, though. I paid $2,049 + tax for it. No extras .

Nevertheless, I love it. I played a bit when I was a child, and I took a few courses in college. We played on Clavinovas back then (1994), but they didn't sound anything close to the quality of the PF-500.

I took a look at the PF-1000. It has a lower note polyphony (which I assume means it sounds inferior) and it has the same speakers and amplifiers as the PF-500. I'm not sure why someone would pay an extra $1000 for it. Anyone?

Regardless, congrats and enjoy getting through the rest of book 2.

PF1000 has some extras, which includes a bigger LCD screen. see Yamaha site for more information:

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/List/ModelSeriesList/0%2C6384%2CCTID%25253D205900%2C00.html

but of course, for piano usage, PF500 is more than enough, and i don't think PF1000 is a better investment either.

Thanks for all the good feedback.

Congratulations on your purchase. I too have been very happy with my PF500 since I bought it mid year. I am an intermediate level pianist. It does seem to need playing-in, so it will sound better and better as you keep playing it. Love the harpsichord voice and the church and tutti organs too.
Have fun