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#KawaiK300 #KawaiKSeries #UprightPiano
0:00 - Video Introduction on the Kawai K300
0:43 - Piano Sound Demo
2:53 - Stu’s Take on the Piano Sound
4:24 - FAQ #1
5:00 - FAQ #2
6:14 - FAQ #3
7:49 - FAQ #4
11:26 - More Playing on the Kawai K300
12:56 - FAQ #5
16:27 - Final Thoughts
The Kawai K300 has become known as one of the world's most dependable and respected upright pianos and among the best-selling. In markets such as Australia, the UK, and by some indications Canada as well, it's the best selling. And in what I suspect was an inevitable response to that momentum, Yamaha's U1 now costs a typical dealer less to purchase than a Kawai K300 according to PianoBuyer.com. In light of its sustained popularity, we're circling back to this 48" Japanese-made piano and answering the internet's 6 most often asked questions about this model.
Let's now dive into some of the internet's most commonly asked questions regarding the Kawai K300.
Where is the K300 made?
For North American markets, the K300 is made in Japan. The Made In Japan sticker is easy to see and unambiguous, and I've been to the factory 3 times to watch them come together. They also produce K-300s in Indonesia for some other markets, and in those cases, it's marked clearly on the back as a "Made in Indonesia".
This isn't unusual for Kawai - they have parallel manufacturing lines for the GL10 as well, and in that case, those bound for the Japanese market are made in Japan, and for all other markets they're built in Indonesia.
What Year Did the K300 Come Out?
The K300 came out in 2013, but what customers may not know is that there are some evolutionary differences between a K300 today vs one of the originals. By and large the scale design has remained the same, but the bass strings seem to have received improvements and the action rest rail now has the microcell absorber strip to improve repetition speed even more. Generally, I like the fact that we're now 10 years in with no signs of Kawai moving from this model. The stability and the consolidation in Kawai's product lines allow more customers a chance to get to know and trust them - something Yamaha always did extremely well with their U and C series pianos.
Are Kawais cheaper than Yamahas?
As I alluded to at the top of the video, over the last 10 years there have been major shifts in the market with respect to brand market-share, and depending on the region, seeing Kawai's and Yamaha's priced at parity isn't unusual. And if we use pianobuyer.com's SMP price, which is a uniform formula applied to the typical wholesale including common discounts that North American dealers pay, we're at a point where the K300 may actually be slightly more expensive for a dealer to purchase than a U1. It seems that that trend is the same across all models at the time of filming.
So short answer is they used to be, but now not necessarily. As usual, the final price is up to you and your local dealer to work out and local market dynamics, dealer size, and logistics costs will always factor in, so my observations here shouldn't be taken as anything more than pointing out a long-term trend of approaching pricing parity between the brands.
Which is better, Kawai K300 or Yamaha U1?
Few questions in the piano business elicit as passionate a response from all camps as this one - at least in the upright piano realm. Both Kawai and Yamaha have reams of content full of hyperbole and bold claims, but there are some very real differences between these pianos - a few of which I think you could objectively consider to be better or worse.
Firstly, to many people not soaked in piano lore, these two at first glance don't have a lot of daylight between them: both are very well made, both companies have stellar reputations for after-sales care, factory fit-and-finish are top of the industry, and from what I can tell customer satisfaction is high in both cases.
But let's look at those differences...
The U1 uses premium materials and receives considerable factory preparation, and generally sticks to the same designs that have been present on the instrument since the 1990s. They have continued to update the aesthetics on the piano, and the instrument has a nice crisp action with a strong bright attack and good even sustain. It's less basey than what you can get out of other 48" uprights, but not hollow by any means - and in a typical room in a house, it produces a balanced tone with a slightly lighter action feel.
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