Kawai K-800 vs Boston UP-132 | Upright Piano Review & Comparison | Boston Built By Kawai

 

When it comes to Japanese upright pianos, there’s no question that the Kawai K-300 and Yamaha U1 absolutely dominate the conversation. That said, Boston has a very nice lineup of Japanese-built pianos as well, and Kawai has other great options available as well beyond the vaunted K-Series.

In today's article and companion video, we’ll be comparing and contrasting two of the top Japanese-made uprights available today with the Kawai K-800 vs Boston UP-132 professional upright pianos. These are both full-size, 52” upright pianos, and it's an especially interesting comparison because both pianos are actually made by Kawai in the same factory.

Their designs however are quite different, with the Boston UP132 having been designed by Steinway & Sons, while the K-800 is a Kawai product through and through. Kawai also implements a number of special features into the K-800 as their flagship upright.

We’re going to cover exactly how these two pianos compare musically as well as the critical design differences, and what that means for the pianist at the end of the day. It’s not every day we have two of these pianos side-by-side in one of our showrooms so we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Kawai K-800 vs Boston UP-132 - Background

The Kawai K-800 and the Boston UP132 are the largest examples of upright pianos from both of these respective brands. As a result of being built by the same company in the same factory and even on the same production line in Japan, there is a ton of mixed heritage between these two acoustic pianos.

Steinway & Sons have designed the entire Boston series, so if you come across the sentiment that a Boston is really just a Kawai with a different logo, you can immediately discard that claim as false. While there are certainly a lot of shared components, and complete sharing of the labor force, these are distinct pianos from one another.

On the other hand, if you hear the common claim that Boston’s are built in an entirely different part of the factory by different employees, this too can immediately be dismissed as false. The Kawai K-800 upright piano is technically a 53” piano, while the Boston UP132 is 52” in height, but they are both approximately the same height and positioned against one another in the market in terms of price.

 

Commonalities

Starting with what's in common between these two pianos, both use mahogany core double felted hammers (Royal George hammer felt on the K-800, unspecified on the UP132), and have duplex scales, which is somewhat unusual for an upright piano. Both pianos feature tapered solid spruce soundboards.

They both use the same gauge treble wire, and there is not a great deal of difference in the scale tension at the upper end of the range, though there does appear to be some difference in scale tension at the bottom.

Both pianos have soft fall fallboards and heavy-duty casters and ship with a height-adjustable bench.

 

Key Differences

Moving over to the differences and these are much more numerous. For one, we’re looking at very different back post construction for these two instruments, and this can have a big effect on the sense of overall cabinet resonance.

The bridging system is very different with the K-800 having an enlarged section of the treble bridge as it transitions into the bass bridge which is designed like this to increase resonance in this section of the piano. The K-800 also has a full complement of agraffes which ensures ideal string spacing and is generally reserved solely for high-end uprights.

Perhaps the biggest difference is with regard to touch. The K-800 uses extended-length key sticks, whereas the Boston uses a standard upright key stick length. This results in a significant difference in the sense of weight and keybed depth between these two pianos. The K-800 feels like you're playing a grand piano with a wider dynamic range at your disposal due to an increased level of control.

There are pros and cons of extending the keys when you do this on an upright piano, especially with a hammer shank. The increased control results in a slightly degraded repetition speed, and we have noticed that the K-800 has a slightly slower repetition speed than that of the Boston UP132. So really, the question here comes down to whether you want to prioritize control and a greater dynamic range or speed.

Both pianos come standard with soft, muffler and damper pedals, however, the K-800 is available with an optional true sostenuto pedal in place of the muffler pedal by special order. The K-800 incorporates a steel-reinforced keyslip which can aid in minimizing the odds of sticky keys from the piano getting bumped.

In terms of aesthetic differences, the K-800 comes with a New England grand-style hard finish music rack, while the UP132 has a more conventionally sized music desk.

One other key difference for some - the Kawai warranty is transferable to future owners within the warranty period, while the Boston warranty is not. If resale value matters to you, keep this important fact in mind.

Let’s move on to a discussion of sound.

 

Upright Piano Sound

The tone is quite different between these two pianos, and the differences are similar to the differences between the Kawai GX-2 and Boston GP-178.

Ironically, the GX-2 was actually reminiscent of a New York Steinway-esque tone, with a little more mid-range power and warmth. Over on the Boston GP-178, the tone is brighter with some higher overtones.

This general description is also apt for the K-800 vs UP132 comparison. Let’s move through the ranges one by one.

 

Bass Register

The bass register really opens up on the K-800 at a low B or C, and you’ll notice some great resonance down here.

The bass is considerably bigger on the K-800, but the UP132 has a nice bass register of its own that happens to be a little bit warmer.

 

Tenor Register

Getting into the lower tenor range, the UP132 has certain localized areas where you can really hear the cabinet activate, and then other points where the cabinet is not really resonating at all.

The K-800 is pretty consistently resonant across this range.

 

Treble Register

As we move into the treble section, the differences between these two pianos start to fade away. In the top two octaves especially,

The overall character is very similar, and this makes sense because we know that there's no difference in string gauge, hammers, and duplex scale.

 

Overall Thoughts on the Sound Differences

The biggest differences between these two pianos are in the mid-sections. There is a brighter sound on the UP132, though at the same time it’s very nicely blended.

The K-800 takes on more of a New York Steinway tone with lots of mid-range partials, and the sound comes at the player in quite a direct way. Generally speaking, there are more guts and power out of everything on the K-800, and this is due in some parts to the extended key lengths.

 

Piano Action

Beyond the difference in the keystick lengths, there’s a pretty considerable difference in terms of the action designs themselves. The UP132 uses a Steinway-designed maple action.

The K-800 alternatively uses the Millennium III Upright Action with ABS-Carbon fiber composites like all Kawai K Series uprights. Kawai uses this same action concept in their handmade Shigeru Kawai grand pianos, and it’s known for its excellent durability and resistance to changes in humidity and temperature.

Ultimately, both actions are well-built and reliable, though the use of ABS composites in the K-800 is certainly enticing to certain people due to the superior strength and durability of ABS to wood.

As we said earlier, however, the difference from a playing experience is that the K-800 offers a greater degree of control and wider dynamic palette, while the UP132 offers a slightly faster repetition speed.

Both pianos have their own versions of synthetic ebony and ivory key surfaces with Kawai referring to theirs as Neotex.

 

Closing Thoughts

Thanks so much for checking out this comparison of the Kawai K-800 vs Boston UP-132. Both of these big uprights would be a great alternative to a baby grand piano and even work very nicely in an intimate performance setting.

The post Kawai K-800 vs Boston UP-132 | Upright Piano Review & Comparison | Boston Built By Kawai first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Yamaha C2X vs Kawai GX2 | Grand Piano Comparison, Review & Demo

 

When it comes to professional quality grand pianos approaching the 6-foot classic size marker, there’s no question that one of the world’s most popular comparisons is the Yamaha C2X vs Kawai GX2 Blak. Especially in North America, these two instruments are ubiquitous in post-secondary music institutions and other fine teaching studios.

In today's article and companion video, we're going to be comparing these two heavyweights. They're very similarly priced, similarly sized, and two of the most often discussed and compared instruments in the industry.

Whether you’re shopping on behalf of an educational institution, a performance venue or simply looking to invest in a great piano for your home in the 6-foot range, you will undoubtedly come across these two great pianos.

 

Yamaha C2X Grand Piano

Let’s start with the Yamaha C2X.

This is a 5'8" grand piano entirely built in Japan and is essentially an evolved version of the hugely successful Yamaha C2. In a lot of ways, the C2 evolved out of the more basic Yamaha G2, although they were technically considered two distinct product lines that were produced simultaneously for quite a number of years.

But there’s no denying that the C series definitely has an evolutionary root with the Yamaha G series, which was of course their first mainstream grand piano product that was brought into North America.

This means that a lot of people In North America grew up playing Yamaha G2s and G3s in schools, churches and in their homes. The C2X is the latest 5’8” professional-tier grand piano in this category.

 

Piano Sound

Yamaha's traditional tonal profile is often widely described as ‘bright’, and in recent years we’ve been hearing the term ‘crispy’ used as well. There are a couple of key reasons why Yamaha’s have always had a brighter sound;

One reason has been the way in which they've manufactured their hammers in the past, the type of wool selected, and the method by which the wool is then packed. There are also scale design choices that contribute to a brighter tonal profile as well.

Due to higher scale tension, they also use slightly shorter strings than comparably sized pianos from other manufacturers. All of these factors help produce a clear, punchy attack which when joined with a harder hammer results in a bright and after a period of time, potentially metallic tone.

 

Modern Updates

In recent years, Yamaha has really tried to dial down the brightness. One of the things they’ve done to accomplish this is to really change their approach to the hammers. The hammers in the C2X are now a little bit thicker and the felt is not quite as dense. The result is a dialled-down attack and less potential for morphing into that metallic tone over time.

Secondly, they have also changed the steel piano wire used in the treble and midsection of the piano. And there’s no doubt that this has been a pretty successful endeavour as the tone is definitely more colorful than the Yamaha grands of the past, though it’s definitely still on the bright side of the tonal spectrum.

 

Clarity

Another feature of the C2X’s tonal profile is a great sense of clarity, especially throughout the mid-range of the piano. This clarity is a big reason why Yamaha’s are often selected as favorites for recording since this translates very well to a microphone, whereas certain features often preferred for live performance such as warmth and a greater sense of depth don’t necessarily lend themselves to recording.

Thickened Rim

Another upgrade Yamaha has made with the C2X is the inclusion of a thicker rim than what was featured in the C2. This has really improved the overall projection of the instrument even though the rim is still not as thick as the Kawai GX2’s rim.

 

The “Break” Area

Another thing we always take note of here at Merriam Pianos, especially when talking about pianos that are less than six feet in length, is how well they deal with the “break” area - the transition area of the piano between the steel strings and copper strings.

The C2X is not as smooth in this regard as some other instruments available in this price or size range. There’s a distinct difference in the tonal color when transitioning through this area.

Voicing can improve this to some extent, but not entirely, so this is something to be aware of.

 

Piano Action

Light Touch Curve

The C2X features an action entirely designed and manufactured by Yamaha that could be best described as having a light touch curve - a term used when describing digital piano action settings. What we mean here is that it doesn’t take very much effort to get this piano really firing with volume.

This gives the player the impression that the action is weighted lightly, but it’s actually weighted about the same as the Kawai GX2’s action - the difference is that the top end of the volume range comes much faster here.

Some players will love this, but at the same time, the downside is that you lose control in the lower dynamic ranges since there’s simply less real estate to work with down there.

Repetition Speed

Yamaha’s actions are known for their great repetition speed, and that sentiment certainly holds true here. This is a very quick action - even demanding classic repertoire is certainly manageable with this action. Ivorite Keytops The C2X’s white key tops are made of Yamaha’s proprietary Ivorite composite material which both looks and feels like natural ivory. It also has the same moisture-absorbing properties as ivory as well so this is a nice feature.

Yamaha C2X Wrap Up

All in all, what we're looking at with the Yamaha C2X is a really well-built piano. The rim is slightly thicker than the previous C series, the treble strings are of higher quality, the tone is more colorful than Yamaha’s in the past if still bright, and the action is very fast while generating a ton of sound right away.

Kawai GX2 Grand Piano

The GX2 is the most commonly compared Kawai grand piano to the Yamaha C2X, but it’s actually 3 inches linger at 5'11". Due to the different scale design, the longest bass string on the GX2 is actually even longer than three inches more than what you get on the C2X.

This factor alone guarantees that the GX2 is producing a very different tone from the C2X, especially in the bass register.

Like the C2X, the GX series is also made in Japan, and is also an evolved version of a previous Kawai piano, in this case, the Kawai RX2.

That said, the GX2 can be more accurately thought of as a production version of the handmade Shigeru Kawai SK2, featuring the same general design and many of the same components.

 

Design Similarities to the Yamaha C2X

The GX2 and the C2X have a number of design similarities. For one, both feature V-pro plates. This means that instead of the plates being sand-cast, they are cast using a more precise process. The GX2 also uses the double felted hammers, which Yamaha has switched to with the C2X, and this softens the attack and helps prevent the tone from becoming metallic.

Another similarity between these two instruments is they both use duplex scaling. As a result, the treble on both pianos is very nice and clear, though it’s slightly more complex on the GX2. Both pianos feature multi-laminated pinblocks, soft-fall fallboards and large music racks.

Beyond these things, the differences really start to emerge. We’ll start looking at those first as they pertain to the piano sound.

Piano Sound

The first thing that becomes really obvious when playing in the lower dynamic ranges is that the GX2 has a much more active cabinet and soundboard than the C2X. The GX2 uses a solid spruce tapered soundboard, while the C2X features an un-tapered soundboard - this is a key reason for the difference in cabinet and soundboard activation.

Tapered Solid Spruce Soundboard

Tapering refers to a process wherein a soundboard is precisely thinned out towards the edges of its circumference. This frees the soundboard up to resonate more lively, even at low dynamic levels. It also allows for better sustain and cabinet activation.

Tapering is fairly costly, though it is generally regarded as a best practice. The overwhelming majority of top-tier European hand-made pianos feature tapered soundboards, and even Yamaha’s upper-level SX and CF series grands feature tapered soundboards, so it’s not the case that we’re simply looking at differing philosophies in soundboard design here.

Konsei Katagi Rim

Kawai in general is known for their warm and oftentimes darker tone, and this is very apparent with the GX2, which also happens to be a very dynamic and colorful piano. Of course, the overall quality of the traditional craftsmanship is a factor here as is the presence of agraffes, Kawai’s unique Konsei Katagi rim is a big reason why as well.

The Konsei Katagi rim combines layers of different hardwoods to optimize and balance the tone. The inner rim features interlaminated small pore hardwoods for projection and large pore hardwoods for warmth, all equaling out to nothing short of superb tonal depth.

Action

Another huge difference between these two pianos is the feel, which of course primarily relates to the piano's actions.

These two instruments feel very different from one another, and if you have some experience playing piano, odds are you’ll have a preference as to which one you prefer. In fact, even beginners will probably feel a pretty big difference here.

Where the C2X gets loud quite quickly, the GX2 takes requires more effort to get firing, which creates the perception that it’s a heavier action. Like we said above, they’re actually fairly evenly weighted, but the extra level of control the GX2 is easily mistaken for heaviness.

 

Extended Length Key-Sticks

The Kawai GX2 features keysticks that have been extended beyond the normal length for a 6-foot piano. They aren't quite concert-length, but they're about an inch and a quarter longer than the keys on the C2X and what were previously on the Kawai RX2.

The difference to the player is that you’re getting to work with a longer lever which is going to deliver more power, torque and touch control in the extreme dynamic ranges - both soft and loud.

Concert grands are the most dynamic type of grand piano, and the considerably longer key sticks are a critical reason why.

 

Millennium III Action

Beyond the key-stick length, the action design and componentry are also very different between these two grand pianos.

The C2X features a fairly traditional wood-based action. Conversely, the GX2 features the ABS-Carbon Fiber reinforced Millennium III action - the same action featured in the premium handcrafted Shigeru series of grand pianos.

Kawai has been experimenting with eschewing wood for composite action parts for decades, and there are a number of reasons for this. For one, carbon fiber-reinforced parts simply don't shrink and expand with temperature and humidity changes.

This means that from a maintenance standpoint, this action is going to be more stable over a longer period of time and provide an overall more consistent touch than a similarly priced wooden action.

This action is also known for its lightning-fast repetition and keystroke speed - this is a big reason why the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand has become an increasingly popular choice with top-level concert pianists, converting even previously die-hard Steinway enthusiasts.

Neotex Key Surfaces

Like the C2X, the GX2’s action also features synthetic key textures on both the white and black keys made to imitate the touch, feel and absorptive qualities of real ivory. In Kawai’s case, they refer to this texture as Neotex.

Keybed

The GX2 also has a deeper, steel-reinforced keybed which allows the player to dig in a little bit further and take advantage of those extended-length keysticks. The keyslip is also steel reinforced.

Kawai GX-2 Wrap Up

The Kawai GX2 is also a very well-built piano. In comparison to the C2X, you’re getting a warmer, darker sound here that is also more colorful.

The Millennium III action also has some inherent mechanical advantages over the C2X’s action, but a preference will really come down to whether you want the more immediate power of the C2X, or more control that the GX2 offers.

 

Yamaha C2X vs Kawai GX2 - Closing Thoughts

This pretty much sums up the major musical differences between these instruments. In terms of quality of build, it’s pretty much dead even here - these are both extremely well-built instruments, and that’s the reputation both of these companies have for their grand and upright pianos.

We’ve laid out the particular nuances of each piano, so selecting one is going to come down to determining the best musical companion for you or your institution based on your needs.

The Kawai GX-2 certainly has a broader pallet that lends itself to classical music and certain inherent maintenance-related advantages due to the action, but on the other hand, the Yamaha C2X is going to lend itself better to recording and might be a better piano for pop music.

Thanks very much for reading, and be sure to check out the video!

The post Yamaha C2X vs Kawai GX2 | Grand Piano Comparison, Review & Demo first appeared on Merriam Pianos

2359 Bristol Cir #200, Oakville, ON L6H 6P8

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