kp88keys
05-13-2004, 09:00 AM
Greetings Clavinova Users-
As a recently subscribed member of this forum, I have noticed a fair number of topics and questions which draw comparisons among CVP, CLP, YDP, PSR, P and PF series Yamaha piano and portable keyboard instruments. There are also the S series synthesizers, many of which have weighted action 88 key piano keyboards very similar to the Clavinovas and P series instruments. There are MANY similarities among these instruments as far as, for example, the amount of sample RAM or polyphony or number of voices is concerned.
The best source of information for comparison purposes is Yamaha's own web site, Yamaha.com. It takes a little digging sometimes, but if you are willing to wade through all the Specification pages you can get a very accurate reading of all the technical aspects of these instruments. You will find that there are a lot of similarities. Yamaha has about four or five basic configurations among the P, PF, YDP, CLP and CVP lines which differ only in the packaging, furniture style and amplifier power, for example. The CLP-CVP line tends to be pricier because of the furniture style cabinets and the fact that they are marketed in the "Piano Store" environment as opposed to the "Music (guitar) Store" environment which tends to be more price competitive.
An example of the above comparison is the case of the P-250 versus the CLP-150. If you look carefully at the specs you will find that these two instruments are almost exactly the same except for the home style piano cabinet of the CLP-150 and its 60 watt per channel amplifier. The P-250 has 30 Watts per channel and is a portable instrument. They have almost exactly the same voice selection, XG voices, 16 track recorder, effects, etc. The P-250 has pitch and modulation wheels as well as panel memory buttons.
You can buy a P-250 any day of the week at a "Guitar Center" type store for $1999 not including stand or bench or extra pedals.
A CLP-150 will cost you somewhere around $2500 (maybe more) with bench and three pedals built in depending upon where you are in the USA.
I have owned several Yamaha keyboard instruments over the years including an "acoustic" piano and I recently purchased a CLP-150 for the church where I serve as organist. Living in the Boston area, I was fortunate to have more than one Yamaha dealer to visit when looking for an instrument. There are dealers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut who are very competitive with one another on price.
The prices of Yamaha instruments have gone up a little since I bought the CLP-150 last year because of currency changes. The Yen has gotten stronger against the Dollar recently so it takes more dollars to buy a Japanese product in some cases.
Thank you for reading my rant - but try the Yamaha web site - it's a treasure trove of information and will be very helpful to those of you who are trying to decide which instrument to purchase. Yamaha has one of the best web sites I have seen and certainly the best one among the major digital piano manufacturers (Kurzweil, Roland, etc.).
Regards,
Ken
Boston area
As a recently subscribed member of this forum, I have noticed a fair number of topics and questions which draw comparisons among CVP, CLP, YDP, PSR, P and PF series Yamaha piano and portable keyboard instruments. There are also the S series synthesizers, many of which have weighted action 88 key piano keyboards very similar to the Clavinovas and P series instruments. There are MANY similarities among these instruments as far as, for example, the amount of sample RAM or polyphony or number of voices is concerned.
The best source of information for comparison purposes is Yamaha's own web site, Yamaha.com. It takes a little digging sometimes, but if you are willing to wade through all the Specification pages you can get a very accurate reading of all the technical aspects of these instruments. You will find that there are a lot of similarities. Yamaha has about four or five basic configurations among the P, PF, YDP, CLP and CVP lines which differ only in the packaging, furniture style and amplifier power, for example. The CLP-CVP line tends to be pricier because of the furniture style cabinets and the fact that they are marketed in the "Piano Store" environment as opposed to the "Music (guitar) Store" environment which tends to be more price competitive.
An example of the above comparison is the case of the P-250 versus the CLP-150. If you look carefully at the specs you will find that these two instruments are almost exactly the same except for the home style piano cabinet of the CLP-150 and its 60 watt per channel amplifier. The P-250 has 30 Watts per channel and is a portable instrument. They have almost exactly the same voice selection, XG voices, 16 track recorder, effects, etc. The P-250 has pitch and modulation wheels as well as panel memory buttons.
You can buy a P-250 any day of the week at a "Guitar Center" type store for $1999 not including stand or bench or extra pedals.
A CLP-150 will cost you somewhere around $2500 (maybe more) with bench and three pedals built in depending upon where you are in the USA.
I have owned several Yamaha keyboard instruments over the years including an "acoustic" piano and I recently purchased a CLP-150 for the church where I serve as organist. Living in the Boston area, I was fortunate to have more than one Yamaha dealer to visit when looking for an instrument. There are dealers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut who are very competitive with one another on price.
The prices of Yamaha instruments have gone up a little since I bought the CLP-150 last year because of currency changes. The Yen has gotten stronger against the Dollar recently so it takes more dollars to buy a Japanese product in some cases.
Thank you for reading my rant - but try the Yamaha web site - it's a treasure trove of information and will be very helpful to those of you who are trying to decide which instrument to purchase. Yamaha has one of the best web sites I have seen and certainly the best one among the major digital piano manufacturers (Kurzweil, Roland, etc.).
Regards,
Ken
Boston area