New piano... essex?

[crimsonchin]

Hi there,

Looking for an upright piano, my budget is variable and more important for me is that I get value for my money. Looking to spend in the 6-9k eur range, but if I come across a beautiful high end piano for 15-20 that's really worth it I would do it.

Unfortunately in Barcelona the selection is surprisingly limited. I've tried out a few different stores, the brand selection is limited and they only have sh*t piano's or super expensive piano's. I tried a new essex upright for 7k eur that was all round nice when I played on it, but I've been reading horrible stories about essex being overpriced and not very durable. Would love to hear thoughts on this.

Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

[visitor]

These are made under contract by Pearl River now u believe [which is now owned  by Yamaha I think]
Essex used to be made I think by young chang which are.good pianos , never cared for pearl river they used to be garbage but a are much better now .
these are consumer grade pianos,  not sure o  what durability standard hold them to , as a home instrument seeing light use ie 2 to 8 hrs per week if maintained and not banged constantly ie super demanding lit , should be fine if you like it.
but honestly if you were going for a Steinway family product the  Bostons are better they use main line Japan Kawai as a base. Kawai Japan are work horse pianos so durability I would say those are tough to beat. similar w same category yamaha.
a recent main line young chang would be a sweet instrument too.
if you go Chinese , I would honestly go Hailun, or Gibson Baldwin China line, they are made in th Dong Bei factory which generally has higher training more experience work force , better materials and prep, and a track record for making good top end [for China] pianos.

summary
Essex China made good to decent. don't expect institutional level abuse resistant durability
Kawai and Yamaha are the Toyota and Honda od the industry , takes a lot to break them
young chang Korea good alternative
watch out for Indonesia made instrument , too many unknown variables
China makes really good pianos now in some factories really consider Hailun and Baldwin

[crimsonchin]

thanks man, yeah I've been thinking more about it today and it makes more sense to go for a potentially more expensive yamaha if its a lot more durable.