Yamaha is a well-known brand in the world of acoustic pianos and for good reason. The best Yamaha grand pianos offer a range of features and excellent sound quality, making them a popular choice among musicians of all levels.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best Yamaha digital and stage pianos available on the market.
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Contents
1. Yamaha GB1K
Overview
This entry-level grand piano series from Yamaha strikes a beautiful balance between affordability and performance. This Yamaha Grand pianos is a fantastic starting point for aspiring pianists, offering incredible value without compromising on quality.
Yamaha designers, engineers, and craftsmen were challenged to bring out the expressive tone, subtle colors, and dynamics of a conservatory grand from a more compact instrument.
The GB1K Series pianos may be small, but they have a powerful resonance and tone that brings out the subtle nuances of every note. They come in a variety of finishes including Ebony, Mahogany, American Walnut, White, Georgian, and French Provincial.
- Soundboard: Spruce
- Soundboard Ribs: Spruce
- Back Posts: 3 – Merkus Pine
- Bridge Construction: Two-piece separated
- Frame: V-Pro Vacuum Shield Mold Process
- Key Material: Seasoned spruce
- White Key surfaces: Acrypet™
- Black Key surfaces: Phenolic resin
- Fallboard: Soft close
- Pedal: Shift/Bass Sustain/Damper
- Caster: Single-wheeled solid brass casters
- Weight: 574 lbs (261 kg)
2. Yamaha GC
Overview
With its elegant, traditional design, this grand piano series delivers the joy of playing to as many people as possible, boasting, despite its compact size, a rich sound, and delicate touch that only Yamaha can offer.
The GC Series combines the duplex scaling and rich tonal character of the renowned C Series grand, maintaining a treasured overall sonic balance as a piano, and inheriting the exquisite touch response and richly expressive power unique to Yamaha.
The GC Series is equipped with a lid prop catch to prevent your fingers from injury if the piano lid closes unexpectedly. The fallboard is fitted with a soft landing mechanism, freeing you from the worry of it shutting on your fingers unexpectedly.
Sound
Yamaha devotes a valuable amount of time to crafting and enabling the sound that players strive for.
In meticulously adjusting the action to efficiently transmit even the most delicate nuances in the player’s touch, and fine-tuning the sound by needle-piercing the hammer itself to create a beautiful and varied tone.
Yamaha specifically seasons every piano for its destination. The tuning stability, finish, and overall musical integrity are enhanced over the long life expected of a fine piano.
3. Yamaha CX
Overview
For over half a century, the C Series has been renowned among players worldwide as an instrument that sets the standards for grand pianos.
The expertise and technologies acquired through the development of the CFX, a full concert grand piano born in 2010, and the concept of a “singing” piano were all generously poured into the CX Series, contributing to its profound evolution.
There are 7 models in the CX range, from the CX1-CX7 ascending in size order. The CX7 is the closest to a concert grand.
All models come in 5 finishes:
- Polished Ebony
- Polished Mahogany
- Satin American Walnut
- Satin Ebony
- White
Design
The CX Series features a completely revamped design. Following in the footsteps of the CF Series concert grand, the CX Series design features simple, elegant lines, focusing on the characteristic legs of the piano in doing away with any excess ornamentation.
This elegance is set off by a solid pedal box that allows performers to depress the pedals with as much power as they want, one aspect of a philosophy epitomizing “functional design” that allows players to become one with their instrument as they play.
The fallboard is fitted with a soft landing mechanism, freeing you from the worry of it shutting on your fingers unexpectedly.
In order to provide the best playability possible, the CX Series offers white keys made of Ivorite™, which has a feel, color, and absorbency very similar to natural ivory.
Sound
The music wires of the CX Series have also been redesigned to create a remarkably sustained sound, rich with harmonics. It is, of course, the music wire that actually creates the sound of a piano.
While affected by its matching with the hammers, soundboard, and body of the piano, music wire has a profound effect on the timbre and sustain of the instrument.
The CX Series produces a full complexity of overtones in its middle and upper registers. Coupled with the support from a solid foundation, this gives CX Series pianos a luxurious, harmonically resonant sound.
The hammers on the CX Series are made from the same material as the CFX, enabling accurate response to the most subtle expressive changes in touch, thus delivering fine clarity of tone.
The CX Series has also benefitted from the results of this research and development, utilizing the same felt as the CFX, which is adjusted to match the size of each instrument in the series.
This ensures that all CX Series pianos possess a clear range of tonal colors and a nuanced, expressive sound.
4. Yamaha SX
Overview
The high-end SX Series features luxurious, powerful sound that belies its size. It promises to deliver rich overtones, low decay, and a wide range of expressive tonal colors throughout its playing life.
Taking the best from the forerunner S Series and augmenting it with practical innovations, the SX Series and augmenting it with practical innovations, the SX Series takes its place on the stage as a thoroughly contemporary piano.
Design
For the inner and outer rims of the SX Series, Yamaha craftsmen carefully selected wood based on its acoustic characteristics.
During construction, they reduced the number of glue layers, using more than 30% thicker wooden materials than those of forerunner S Series pianos, to bring out the inherent resonance of that wood.
This approach has shaped the acoustic character of the SX Series, adding richness, clarity, and muscle to the bass and mid-range, while maintaining a warm and inviting overall tone.
In creating the SX Series, Yamaha borrowed techniques used in the flagship CFX for attaching the soundboard, ribs, and bridge. The resulting soundboard assembly is carefully integrated into the piano body, where it delivers outstanding projection.
Sound
Yamaha’s A.R.E. (Acoustic Resonance Enhancement) treatment imbues wood used in the rims with the acoustic properties of a beloved vintage instrument.
The SX Series employs exclusive hammer felt made with a newly developed formula. Yamaha tested countless prototypes in the quest to find the perfect match for this piano.
The superb elasticity of this hammer felt allows the player to achieve clear and beautiful tonal colors, along with well-balanced density across the full range from bass to treble.
As they wind pure copper around the core steel string, Yamaha craftsmen must delicately adjust the balance and tension of the strings. The piano strings are pliable and they bring overtones in better harmony with fundamental frequencies.
What this means to your ears is a beautifully resonant sound with satisfying overtones. The SX series provides a richly expressive sound with a beautifully sustained resonance.
5. Yamaha CF
Overview
Handcrafted from the same materials by the same elite artisans, all three models of the CF Series share a beautiful expressiveness and deep tonal presence.
Unnecessary ornamentation has been eliminated in favor of a sleek modern design throughout. The pianos look as good as they sound
The flagship model is the CFX; a full-sized 9-foot (275cm) concert grand piano suitable for the largest of concert halls.
Retaining the same outstanding characteristics as the CFX, the 7-foot (212cm) CF6 is a perfect choice for recital halls, while the 6-foot 3-inch (191cm) CF4 is excellent for performing at smaller venues and teaching studios.
Design
The frames are individually hand molded and sand cast to enhance the strength and stability of the pianos. This contributes to the outstanding tonal character and sustain of the series.
The wood of the CF Series is smoothed numerous times, gradually changing the grade of the sandpaper, and the finish is applied one layer at a time with meticulous buffing in between. The result is a rich black appearance of unusual beauty.
The CF6 and CF4 feature an open pin block design which improves both the attack and sustain of the notes. Yamaha uses the best possible materials and treatments for optimum performance despite possible changes in temperature and humidity.
All aspects of the piano wire have been researched, from the wave patterns of various harmonics to the way it reacts when struck by the hammers. Yamaha’s bass strings are hand-wound by skilled craftspeople.
The modern style of the pedal lyre matches the simplicity of the legs, yet is more durable and stronger than on any previous models. The CF6 and CF4 have a glossy finish on the lid.
The white keys are of a newly developed “Ivorite” material that both looks and feels like natural ivory for a comfortable touch. The black keys are made of carefully selected high-grade ebony.
Sound
Power describes the incredible tonal presence. Not only when played fortissimo, but even soft delicate passages carry throughout the hall. The bass is amazing, and all registers can project over a full symphony orchestra regardless of a venue’s size.
The shape, thickness, and even manufacturing process of the back beam and posts were changed, and the one-piece inner/outer rim was also made using a newly developed process. The result is a deep rich sound with outstanding tonal projection.
Only the most carefully selected European spruce is used for the soundboard. A new method for attaching the ribs to the soundboard helps free it from stress, adding rich overtones to the sound for a wide range of expressive tonal colors.
6. Yamaha CFX
Overview
Built by master craftsmen committed to blending the wisdom of the old world with innovations of the new. A piano continuously refined over more than half a century for this moment. The CFX is Yamaha’s flagship grand piano.
The Yamaha factory in Kakegawa, Japan has earned a reputation as the pinnacle of piano making. But inside a corner of this factory is a place that’s even more exceptional.
A concert piano workshop where our most skilled master craftsmen fashion pianos entirely by hand. These artisans have learned from generations of craftsmen before them.
Expert craftsmen who intuitively understand the delicate balance between absolute precision and the human touch. Technicians who have voiced and regulated concert grands for prestigious competitions.
The white keys are fashioned from moisture-absorbent Ivorite™ for a feel and color similar to natural ivory. The black keys are made of the finest natural ebony.
Each key is hand-crafted from the finest spruce and precisely measured, weighted, and balanced to optimize the power and control of your playing dynamics in every note.
Sound
Each soundboard is fashioned from the top one percent of European spruce. This strong, lightweight wood is hand-selected for its ability to transform string vibrations into beautiful, resonant sounds.
The shape of the crown has been refined to add a deeper, more resonant mid-bass sound and the width, height, and position of the sound ribs have been modified to increase dynamic range.
The bridge is hand-crafted from the finest maple. It has been reshaped in the mid-treble register to increase effective string length, enhancing lower frequencies between the mid-treble and treble, and optimizing balance across the entire register.
The result is an extraordinary union of projection and richness in every note.
Augmented Reality with Pianos
Experience the joy of owning a piano by using augmented reality to view how a Yamaha piano will look in your home, via the Yamaha website. When viewing on a smartphone, tap the “View in your room” button.
When viewing on a PC, use your smartphone to read the QR code displayed on your PC screen. Tap the 3D model to playback sound. Tap the 3D model again to stop the sound. [iOS only].
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Conclusion
These 6 Yamaha Grand pianos are designed for different spaces, and hopefully, this article has helped you to determine which one is right for your space. Happy practicing and performing!
