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Founded in Hamamatsu, Japan in c.1927, master piano builder Koichi Kawai learned his craft from his eventual rival, Mr Torakusu Yamaha, and with his sight always set on innovation and development, Kawai was initially established as Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory. Read more…
Founded in Hamamatsu, Japan in c.1927, master piano builder Koichi Kawai learned his craft from his eventual rival, Mr Torakusu Yamaha, and with his sight always set on innovation and development, Kawai was initially established as Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory.
For over forty years Kawai has been at the very forefront of acoustic piano development and innovation. Pioneering use of state of the art materials such as carbon fibre, along with almost 100 years of piano making expertise, has produced a range of fine quality instruments delivering exceptional and enduring performance.
A Kawai instrument has become the piano of choice for many world famous musicians and institutions, and with a unique touch and tone is today a compelling alternative to a Yamaha upright piano.
In addition to their quest for piano design perfection, Kawai also strives to have as little impact on the environment as possible, in 1997 becoming the world's first piano factory to receive ISO14001 certification for excellence in environmental management. Work groups at the Ryuyo factory continuously monitor emissions, waste and energy usage, ensuring these are as low as possible, while Kawai's Forest Project has to date planted in excess of 400,000 seedlings, thus ensuring sustainable procurement of raw materials for generations to come.
The Kawai K15 is the smallest model in the range, equivalent to the Yamaha b1, and is the only model in Kawai's K Series to feature a modern style cabinet. Crafted to be excellent value, the K15 utilises Kawai's reliable ABS action, and is the only instrument in its class to benefit from a solid spruce soundboard. A compact model at 110cm tall, the K15 is an excellent choice of starter piano for pianists of any age, and an equally great choice for the school practice room. Also available as an Anytime ATX3L upright piano, enabling private practice with headphones.
Sitting just above the K15 in the range, the 114cm tall K200 is not only the first traditional style model in the K Series, but is also the first model in Kawai's upright piano lineup to feature their proprietary Millennium III ABS-Carbon upright piano action. This ingenius action mechanism incorporates ABS plastic components which have been infused with carbon fibre, thus reducing their weight and eliminating problems such as wood shrinkage or warping. The K-200 also benefits from luxurious touches such as a soft-closing fallboard, and an extended length, felt lined music desk. Always available for comparison in our Haslemere showroom along side the Yamaha b2, the K-200 is available to order in a selection of attractive finishes, and also as an Anytime ATX4 hybrid piano, enabling private practice at unsociable hours and MIDI connectivity.
The mid-range model and arguably the most popular Kawai K Series upright piano, the 122cm tall K-300 is an elegantly styled and beautifully proportioned instrument, equivalent to the Yamaha b3 and worth also comparing with a reconditioned Yamaha U series upright. The K300 benefits from the same Millennium III ABS-Carbon action as the smaller K-200, however it's increased soundboard area and longer speaking string length afford it a considerably richer and more powerful tone for what is, comparatively, not a huge increase in price. The K-300 is available to order in a selection of attractive finishes, and also as either an Anytime ATX4 or AURES2 hybrid piano, combining the very best of acoustic and digital technologies.
At the same height and built on the same frame as the ever popular K-300, the K-400 is the first model produced at the Ryuyo factory in Japan and features a console piano style cabinet design, along with a dual hinged, soft-close fallboard. A tilting music desk positions the music at eye level, a similar polition to that of a Kawai GL or GX Series grand piano. An elegant and beautifully crafted instrument with a unique cabinet design at its price point, available only in polished ebony.
Also made in Japan is the 130cm tall K500, a refined and resonant instrument which, at 8cm taller than the K400 and K300, is also the first model in the K Series to benefit from duplex scaling, enhancing harmonics and adding both brilliance and richness to the piano's tone. This along with the larger soundboard and longer strings than the smaller models affords it a much more grand-like tonality, while slightly longer keysticks and the same Neotex key surfaces as found on the GX Series grand pianos provide a more controlled and balanced touch. The traditional cabinetry is similar to that of the K-300, benefiting from a lock and also an elegant, single piece fallboard. A superb professional quality upright piano available in polished ebony finish only, also as an Anytime ATX4 and AURES2 hybrid piano, combining the very best of acoustic and digital technologies.
Available with or without sostenuto pedal, which enables selective sustain, the 134cm tall K600 is built on the very largest frame size that Kawai offers. Made in Japan and sharing much with the top of the range K800, the K600 is comparable to the Yamaha U3S in both appearance and tonality, and is an excellent choice of larger instrument for the advanced musician who might not have space for a grand. Sharing the single piece, soft-close, lockable fallboard as the K500 along with its duplex scaling and Neotex key surfaces, the K600 also benefits from agraffes, which allow for much finer accuracy in string alignment, spacing and speaking string length than a pressure bar. This enhances uniformity and consistency of tone and tuning accuracy, resulting in an improved level of clarity and refinement. The non-sostenuto version of the K600 is also available as an Anytime ATX4 and AURES2 hybrid piano, combining the very best of acoustic and digital technologies.