I'm new on this board - despite lots of lurking - and I'm at the moment in the process of buying a piano. It's really difficult and I'd appreciate some impressions from others.... I have two "candidates" and I guess they are both fine but - apologies for a very long and rambling post!
I virtually haven't touched a piano for over 10 years, so needless to say my technique is very rusty - so I feel i cannot completely judge a piano's action based on how it feels under my fingers. I can tell if it's a little lighter, or heavier, but I guess lighter is not necessarily a good thing if I want to restore hand strength, flexibility etc.
As for sound, it's more personal judgement but again I wonder how much is due to my inability to play properly rather than the instrument itself.
So: candidate 1 - a new Kawai K5 with the ATX silent system. I had a preference for the sound of this piano having tried it once before, in a different showroom. To me the sound is more mellow. On the other hand my husband who was there only the second time, said it sounded "a bit blurry" compared to the Yamaha. He says he felt the Yamaha sound was cleaner with the different notes better distinguished...
Does this make any sense? Are there any here who do NOT like the Kawai sound? I don't know how to describe it in better terms than this unfortunately.
Candidate 2 - a 2002 Yamaha YUS1 with silent system. This one was in a different space, so it wasn't a fair comparison to the Kawai. IT's also 10 years old (which isn't that old, granted). Not heavily used, mostly in the silent mode. It did have a noticeably brighter sound. The action felt lighter than the Kawai, which feels like there is a bit more resistance to it. Neither was "too" heavy or too light, though.
Now here is the crux: in the showroom, after I tried the Kawai and
before we went to the depot to see the seconcd-hand Yammy, I also played a bit on a
brand-new Yamaha U1. The dealer said that both Yamahas would sound the same so he encouraged me to try that one out for sound in the same space. Now, I really liked that particular piano: the action felt lovely, and the sound was clear, brilliant but not over-bright. I actually preferred it to the Kawai. (I have tried other (second-hand) U1/YU1 models before, and I did not like them as much.)
However, the instrument I would actually buy is not that same brand-new piano, but a 10-year old second-hand one. It did sound very similiar, recognisably the same brand let's say, but it did not sound exactly the same. I didn't have the "oh, I LIKE this one!" feeling that I had with the new instrument.
So, before my hubby brought out this 'blurring issue", I had preferred the Kawai's warmer sound. Also the silent system is nicer on the Kawai. But the second-hand Yamaha is cheaper, slightly smaller (see below) and IF I could be sure that once in my home it would sound the same as the new one in the shop, I would probably take it. Trouble is I can't be sure.
I still like the Kawai and I think perhaps it's just the way I played it (i.e. poorly) that might have created the "blurriness" (I was using the pedal).
What would you do? I think I have to go back to the dealer to give them another try. Are you able to give me any advice how I should test the piano given my limited ability to play actual whole pieces. There is no-one I can take with me to play for me; I asked the dealer to play a bit and he did, but he is not really a classical pianist.
P.S. the silent system is a "must" hence the two choices. Size matters because I cannot fit anything taller than 125cm through my apartment block's stairwell/windows.
TIA for any views whatsoever

(edited to try and make my thoughts a bit clearer - English is not my first language as you can probably tell. And I am sitting in a rather boring conference at the moment, thinking about pianos....

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