Kawai X02 - Any information

[hye128]

I am going to view a 4 years old Kawai X02 in a private sale. I was told it was 50'. I couldn't find this model in Kawai website. Anyone has any information about it, specially where it is made, quality, what was the roughly price when it was new. The asking price was around $4,000. Is it a good deal?

Any comments will be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

hye128

[pianosrule]

Hello,

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the Kawai X02 may be a piano that was originally manufactured and used in Japan.  The Japanese usually don't keep pianos for very long, ie. 5 years or so, before they buy another new piano. Not very many Japanese want to buy a used piano, so a lot of them are sold to piano dealers in North America.  This is what I think the history is of the Kawai X02 that you're interested in.

When I was in the market for a piano in Canada, the piano dealer had a Kawai X02 or Kawai X05 in his store.  He said that it was originally used in Japan and that they had bought quite a few of these used pianos to be sold in their store.  I ended up buying a used Kawai KU-30 piano.  It was also advertised as 50" tall by this piano store, but when I measured it at home, it was about 49 inches tall.  Even though it was a used piano from Japan, I liked the sound of this piano and it was about six years old at the time.  Before  I bought it, I paid to have an independent registered piano technician thoroughly exam the piano.  He said the KU-30 was in excellent condition and that it should be more than adequate throughout all the upper piano grades of the Royal Conservatory of Music.

I have had the piano for two years now and I have not had any problems with this piano which has made and used in Japan, contrary to all the controversy about grey market Japanese pianos being sold in North America and the extreme temperature and humidity differences between North America and Japan.  My piano still sounds nice and there has been no warping of any of the wood on the piano.

If the X02 is US$4,000, then it sounds a little bit high if it was originally used in Japan and then shipped to North America.  Perhaps you could ask the owner more questions about this model and bargain a little more. 

Remember to play all the notes to see how they sound and have a qualified piano technician inspect the piano before you buy.  The cost of this service will be well worth it, especially, if he/she finds something wrong.  Do not use the piano dealer's piano technician.  You want an unbiased opinion, so research and bring your own technician.

[grantm]

Hi there,

My mum has an X02 and a Yamaha U1E both the same age ( about 5-7yrs i think) and the X02 leaves the yamaha for dead for sound quality. My view is the X02 has a fantastic tonal quality you expect in much more expensive piano and it is one of the nicest pianos i have played. It always enspires endless song writing when i get the chance to play it which is the sign of a great instrument if you cant stop playing it. Its my understanding the Japanese imported and made pianos are usually of very good quality which is why new piano retailers hate them becuase they are very good value for the money and often superior to locally made new pianos and will last many years and hold there value better. However I dont know the second hand value of the X02 particulary as I am not from the US but i would speak to second hand dealers and quizz them about there current value. I am currently wanting to find a X02 here in Australia if mum wont sell me hers, which is how i stumbled onto this forum.  good luck and play on.

grant