Kawai K-400 Upright Piano

Product Overview

The 48” Kawai K-400 upright piano is the third model from Kawai’s newest line of K-Series Professional Upright Pianos, which was released in 2014. This model is the same height as Kawai’s top-selling K-300 model, however, boasts advantages such as: a grand-piano music desk, an ultra-slow fall fallboard, the wood for the soundboards is hand-selected (AAA vs. AA) as well as it receives extended periods of hand-voicing and regulating prior to leaving the factory than a standard Japanese production upright would receive. All Kawai K-series acoustic pianos are manufactured in Japan (except the K-200) and receive high-quality materials, craftsmanship, and features typically found in far more expensive instruments, such as abs-carbon composites.

The K-400 is most often compared to Yamaha’s YUS-1, the Boston 126E (sold as a Steinway product but manufactured by Kawai in their Japanese factory), and some entry-level European pianos such as the W. Hoffmann V126. One of the most popular pianos in our showroom, the K400 is a bit of a hidden gem for the industry as a whole.

Action

The K-400 features Kawai’s widely revered, award-winning, and exclusive Millennium III upright action. This is arguably the most advanced action in an upright piano ever, and features: micro-cell repetition foam on the action rail (to reset hammer quicker than most uprights), moving pieces in action made completely from abs-carbon fiber material (stronger and lighter than wood, and won’t shift with changes to humidity/moisture) as well as extra-long key sticks for better control in lower dynamic ranges.

The result of all this is a beautifully smooth and accurate action, which puts the musician fully in control of the instrument’s acoustic assembly. The carbon fiber base of this action will maintain its original factory regulation far longer than an action made of wood.

Kawai’s Millennium III Carbon Fiber action is an absolute marvel of today’s piano industry and is one of the many things that sets their pianos apart from the rest.

Tone

The Kawai K-400’s tonal profile provides a wonderful range of color and depth, and is great for a wide variety of musical styles. Its combination of very high-quality woods and brilliant tension/scale design, gives the K-400 that traditional rich, dark core to the tone which Kawai is famous for, along with a vocal/singing like quality to each note. The K-400s tone is similar to a warm-sounding European upright.

Hammers

Kawai is one of 3 piano manufacturers today to still produce their own hammers, and in the K Series Kawai upright pianos, they use premium quality, double felted hammers with a mahogany core.

Soundboard

Kawai hand-selects the finest straight-grained, quarter sawn solid spruce wood for the K-400 soundboards. The soundboards are precisely tapered to prevent energy loss and enhance the efficiency. The soundboards also receive full-length ribs to preserve the natural crown of the soundboard for many years to come, as well as Contour Bars that are installed in the opposite direction of the ribs in order to funnel soundboard energy back to the center of the board (like in grand pianos).

These incredibly designed and built solid spruce soundboards are yet another feature that makes Kawai’s K-series uprights stand out in their instrument class.

Rim/Cabinet

Kawai redesigned their cabinetry as well for the new K-Series upright pianos for a more contemporary/sleek look. In the K-400s case, there is some beautiful beveled edging with a distinctive appeal, a grand-style music rack (places the sheet music at eye level, solid surface accommodates oversized music books) as well as a New-England style soft-fall fallboard.

It also has large solid spruce back posts for added structural integrity, as well as reinforced keybed and keyslip. Every new Kawai piano looks good, but the K-400 looks both classy and modern simultaneously, and stands out in just the right ways in both homes and studios.