Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Upright piano: Yamaha U3 or Kawai US50

Hi, all, i need your professional advice.

I am a beginner of piano living in HK and I would like to buy my first piano. Due to room size and budget limit, I can only think of Upright pianos. Right now, I have 2 choices, both are pretty new 2nd hand (actually, they are displayed items). One is Yamaha U3 and one is Kawai US50.

The price for Yamaha U3 is around US$2810 and Kawai is around US$3575. I have tried both, I found that the sound of Kawai is louder and sharper. The salesman said the style of Kawai US50 looks like a grand piano and the materials used are far more better than Yamaha U3. However, as he is too "hard sell" on Kawai and personally, i like the brand name of Yamaha more, so I really don't know which one is better.

Does anyone have tried these two before?? Could anyone tell me more about Yamaha or Kawai?

Thanks a lot !!

His claim about the materials being much better in the Kawai is nonsense. The pianos are of comparable quality. If they are both of similar age and condition I would go with the Yamaha because of the price differential and the fact that the U3 is 52" high while I beleive the Kawai is only 49" high.

I personally own the Kawai K50E which is their newest model of the K50 in the US. Though I love it, the price difference would stear me to the Yamaha.

Be careful of the dealer. Get the serial no.'s from each piano, and find out the date of manufacture. The U1 has been made forever, and just because the case looks new, it may very well be an older piano. Be careful, is the watchword when dealing with some of the dealers.

Either manufacturer makes fine pianos that are the equal in quality of one another(IMO). In your case it will probably come down to which piano has the lower price.

I agree with Micheal & Steve here. Given the relative equality of both manufacturer's products, then size alone would steer me to the U3. Given the same price and quality, bigger would be the way to go.

However, in North America (at least in Canada, that price for the U3 might be a bit low, so be careful, and have a tech check it out for you. Good luck.

jamie