Digital piano recommendations
  • Kevin814
    Posts: 42
    My son is showing a real interest in the piano, so I want to upgrade from a 5-octave keyboard to a full-sized digital piano with sustain pedal and weighted keys.
    (Let me head off the inevitable comments by saying that I agree a real piano would be better...but getting one up the stairs to our apartment isn't an option. He can still come down to the church with me when he wants to play the real thing.)
    I know Clavinovas are great, but they're a little pricey too. Anyone know of cheaper options that don't feel cheap, so to speak?
  • RCS333
    Posts: 43
    I like the newish Casio Privias. Great bang for the buck
    Thanked by 1Kevin814
  • trowland87
    Posts: 12
    Yamaha has some less expensive options, like the Arius Series and the P-Series. I think Yamaha and Kawai make the best digital pianos in terms of replicating the sound and feel of an acoustic piano. However, the price might still be higher than you're hoping. It depends on what you mean by "cheaper". My classroom has a Yamaha P-45, which I think is the least expensive 88-key weighted action piano they have (at around $500). It serves its purpose in the classroom, and the keyboard action is decent, but the rest of the construction of it definitely still feels rather flimsy; I think the speakers are starting to give out, and I've only had it for about 3 years. At home, I have a Kawai CL25, which (while being one of the lower end Kawai digitals) is an infinitely better piano. The latest version (CL26) runs at about $1100.

    I don't have much experience with the Casio Privia series, but Casios always just feel more like toys to me rather than instruments.
    Thanked by 1Kevin814
  • btodorovich87
    Posts: 97
    I've honestly never been truly wowed by Clavinovas. I have a Yamaha P-255 in my office that serves me well. There were much cheaper and much more expensive choices available, but in my research/shopping that model seemed to have the best feel and best sound for a mid-range instrument (I think it was about $1300). YMMV.
    Thanked by 1Kevin814
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    image
    I knew there was something heretical about having pianos in church.
    arius.jpg
    2048 x 1152 - 392K
    Thanked by 10a_f_hawkins Incardination madorganist Salieri Earl_Grey trowland87 eft94530 CHGiffen ServiamScores Casavant Organist
  • Carol
    Posts: 849
    Okay, Chonak, I'll bite- why is it heretical? Because it is digital or am I missing something about Arius?
  • RCS333
    Posts: 43
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arius
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    ...in church.
    It's an even greater heresy if it's a piano simulacrum.
    Thanked by 2francis Carol
  • ncicero
    Posts: 38
    Kawai ES-8 should have everything you're looking for! Perhaps a bit pricey, but I bought its predecessor, the ES-7, for $1300.
  • Carol
    Posts: 849
    I should have tried googling Arius myself, thank you RCS333!
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