Personally I think acoustic will always be better, although I understand if you want hybrid if you need a quiet version. I have a Kawai K300 and love it. Have had a tuner who’s a professional musician tune it and he stayed extra to play because he loved the sound. It is well worth the upgrade over the K200, and if you can find a factory direct deal it’s even better. More on reddit.com

You'll have to try both, and determine for yourself. Sound wise, yamaha's sound engine is more natural and robust vs Kawai's engine. They're a much larger company , yamaha sells 1 out of 4 instruments of (all instruments sold). Their engineering team dwarfs that of all other companies. They own bosendorfer, so you get the CFX sound and Bosendorfer, which is a nice mix as they're very different sounding pianos which covers a wider range of music. Kawai has their own signature, and is more same-y on the pianos they give you, They sound good, but overall, I'm not a fan of Kawai's sound system, as they hire out to Onkyo. It's not the same vertically integrated powerhouse that Yamaha is. THAT SAID, it's 2021, and Yamaha will still sell you a TI-84 looking piece of sh* ugly interface on their $3000 piano, GTFO, hahahahaha. Just so you know I'm not biased, I think ALL digital pianos are a massive rip-off. The action, alot of people argue over which one is more/less realistic, but that is fundamentally a shallow understanding of the piano process. NONE of the simulated type of actions from Kawai's GF123 to Yamaha's GrandTouch/ Touch S, etc feel anything like a real piano action. THAT HOWEVER is NOT a bad thing. If you look at the goal of an Acoustic piano action, they design it specifically to Minimize the difference in weight between the heaviest and lightest key. They also try to lighten the action as a whole as much as possible. So in theory, simulating an acoustic action perfectly would be COUNTER to the primary design objectives of an Acoustic action. A simulated action could be arbitrarily light and completely uniform. This is why Simulation actions are actually superior to real acoustic actions to begin with. At no point is an experienced pianist going to not be able to be expressive on a digital piano. The mechanism only needs to sense either a fast or slow key strike, ALL actions even unweighted ones can do that. The rest is just personal taste, and that TASTE will CHANGE over time. You might think something feels good now, for example PHA4 action in the FP30/10 or the N1Wx in the Yamaha P515, but as you progress you realize these actions are stupid heavy and fatiguing to practice on. Professional pianists are known to buy light- and unrealistic digital actions for practice because it saves on stamina. You can run out of physical stamina well before you're too mentally tired to practice. So some of these guys get Kawai's RHC or RH3, both much lighter and feathery to play. So, in conclusion, don't get drawn into the realism debate, it's only thought of that way by people who don't practice enough to understand the nuances. More on reddit.com

Interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up.

First, debunking a few things as a piano technician:

Yamaha's action is built with wood while the Kawai's is built with plastic.

They are both effective systems. There was a time when the plastic used in pianos was inferior and led to problems. That is no longer an issue. In the future, everything will continue to move toward carbon fiber as it continues to get more consistent and more economical.

The felt head of a Yamaha is more compact and over time will soften, while the Kawai's felt head is punctured with holes and over time will harden.

The felt is going to harden on both brands of hammers. They will both continue to brighten over time. You're repeatedly slamming a piece of fabric into hard, high-tension steel strings. The felt fibers will become more and more compressed as the piano ages.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Most piano salesmen know very little about pianos. They are there to sell you pianos, but they aren't technicians and they LOVE to repeat things that makes their brand seem better than the competition.

• If you have any concerns about a piano, hire an independent piano technician to look it over (will cost you $50 to $100). You can judge a dealer by how they react to this. A worthwhile, trustworthy dealer will welcome your tech and give him/her free-range over the piano you're interested in.

• Prices are negotiable. Always. Don't want to pay for the delivery cost? I guarantee you can talk him down and get him to throw in a couple of free tunings.

• Beware of "100% trade in." You're probably not going to trade in the piano you purchase and it probably only applies towards much more expensive grands. They want you to trade in your $4,000 upright for a $40,000 grand. If you can see yourself doing that, it's something to consider. Most of the time, it's just not something you'll use.

• Go off of the manufacturer warranty, not the store warranty. I've done warranty work for both Yamaha and Kawai. It's often best if the local dealer is cut out of the deal entirely and the technician acts as a go-between between the manufacturer and the customer.

• Entry level pianos can be okay. It's good that you're looking at Yamaha and Kawai and not their sub-brands or off-brands. The most recommended uprights are Yamaha U1s (or better) or Kawai K-2s (or better). The taller the piano, the longer the strings, the better the piano.

Where you've already made up your mind and you don't need us to settle the Yamaha vs Kawai debate for you:

• Sound wise, I think I favor the Kawai.

• But I found that my hands felt more agile while playing the Kawai.

Happy hunting!

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When I was shopping for a baby grand some years ago I absolutely loved the Yamaha I tried. My comment "it practically plays itself" was surely an overstatement, but I've often regretted getting the much cheaper Young Chang I have now. Also I had very little piano experience back then, so I'm probably carrying an embellished memory. But have you been able to compare them side by side? How do the warranties stack up? More on reddit.com