Yamaha CLP-575 & CLP 585

[heken]

Has anyone here on the forum got the chance to try both of them out? Is there a big difference in sensitivity and touch? Im thinking of buying one of them, but I don't know if the 1000 euro difference is worth it, and I can't try both of them out since my "local" (many miles away) music store hasn't gotten the 585 yet.

[georgey]

I have the exact same question.  I ordered a CLP-575 a few days ago and will receive this in the next few weeks. I did not try the CLP-585.  UPDATE:  I changed today (a few days later) my order from CLP-575 to a Avantgrand N1.  I was not aware that such a product existed until I searched Yamaha's website further after placing the order for the CLP 575.  I was blown away by the demonstrations at their website!!!  I then read good things about it here at pianostreet.com. My Yamaha dealer was kind enough to make the order change, although I had to pay to have the CLP-575 shipped back ($200). Thank you!

[bronnestam]

Well, I tried a CLP-575 one week ago in a music store and I loooved it. Now, note that I have a 465GP already, so I'm very used to this kind of piano. The 575 was, as you could expect, a little bit better than my own 465GP ... well, my piano is just 2 years old and works just fine, so I will not replace it. But the new model was improved a bit, I tried the Bösendorfer sound. Normally I don't like Bösendorfer that much, to play on I mean, but the sound itself was great!

I have not tried the 585 but ... well, the 575 is certainly good.

[pianist1976]

Has anyone here on the forum got the chance to try both of them out? Is there a big difference in sensitivity and touch? Im thinking of buying one of them, but I don't know if the 1000 euro difference is worth it, and I can't try both of them out since my "local" (many miles away) music store hasn't gotten the 585 yet.

The main difference between 575 and 585 lies on the later's better speakers + amplifier and a higher furniture that not only has an aesthetic function but it has a better natural resonance. The 585 has also 3 way speakers. If you have $1000 extra to expend, it may be nice as the experience of playing on the superior amplification is, in my humble opinion, even more enjoyable. Otherwise the 575 is also a terrific instrument almost identical to 575 but with a not as good amplification/furniture.

[michael_c]

Apart from the amplification/speakers and a number of extra instrument sounds, the 585 has an important advantage over the 575: the keys are counterweighted. Although the counterweighting does not bring the touchweight down to that of most acoustic pianos, it does make it easier to play very soft passages.

I had the possibility of extensively test driving both instruments. With simple means (piles of coins and a digital balance) I measured the static touchweights of both instruments:

CLP 575

Top octave
Down: 66g
Up: 44g

Middle octave
Down: 76g
Up: 50g

Bottom octave
Down: 90g
Up: 66g

CLP 585

Top octave
Down: 60g
Up: 38g

Middle octave
Down: 68g
Up: 44g

Bottom octave
Down: 80g
Up: 58g

(My digital balance displays weights with increments of 2g, so I expect these weights are accurate to about 2g.)


You can see that both instruments have considerably heavier static touch than a normal acoustic piano (downweight somewhere around 50g). This means that playing very rapid, delicate passagework is harder on these instruments than on an acoustic grand. Playing mf or f is not harder, presumably because the actions have lower inertia than real acoustic actions (I don't have the sophisticated machinery necessary to measure inertia).

I don't know why Yamaha didn't add enough counterweighting to the 585 to make the touchweight similar to that of one of their acoustic grands. Already the small difference in weight between the touch of the 585 and the 575 makes a noticeable difference to the feel when playing, but I can't see any reason not to bring the touchweight down nearer to 50g.