When it comes to mid-range professional-level pianos, there are of course many solid options on the market in this modern era of upright piano building. But, if there’s one particular rivalry that happens to stand out above all others, it has to be the Yamaha U1 vs Kawai K-300.
Sure, these two pianos companies have numerous directly competitive pianos; the Yamaha GC1 vs Kawai GL10, Yamaha C2X vs Kawai GX2, Yamaha CFX vs Shigeru Kawai SK-EX etc. But the fact is, the U1 and K-300 are the two best-selling professional upright pianos in many parts of the world, and as such, get the most attention in the marketplace.
We reference these two pianos constantly in our videos and reviews, so along with the companion video, we’re going to do a comprehensive head-to-head breakdown for you here. If you’re shopping for an upright, it’s pretty much impossible to avoid these two beasts.
Yamaha U1 Upright Piano
Yamaha U1 History & Background
Let’s start with the Yamaha U1. The U1 is a 48” piano from Japan and is probably the best-known upright piano in the entire world, and perhaps even in the history of the piano industry.
The U1 really led the way in terms of the Japanese takeover of the North American piano industry starting in the late ’60s, which then really picked up significant momentum through the late 1970s and into the 1980s. There were simply no new pianos of the U1’s craftsmanship and musical quality available at such a low price previously.
Kawai followed closely behind, and within a few years these two Japanese manufacturers had achieved market dominance for upright pianos in North America by the 1980s, and this continues to this day.
The U1 specifically became very well-known because Yamaha had the foresight to keep the model name the same since the inception of the U1 almost 60 years ago.
Alternatively, Kawai has gone through more than a dozen different series of upright pianos with each new generation, changing the name each time. The U1 has of course featured many design improvements over the years but without ever changing the name.
Yamaha U1 Musical & Design Overview
Musically, the U1 can be described in a couple of fairly simple ways. For one, it produces a good, clear and loud tone once you really get the soundboard activated. Many people over the years have described the U1 as having a sharper tone, and this is the result of a high-tension scale design.
The strings are a little bit shorter, and interestingly, the soundboard is not tapered. As a result, when you really start to push the instrument, there is a tendency for the piano to distort when you get into the upper register.
On the other hand, the fact that it’s not a tapered soundboard has traditionally meant that the tuning stability can be a little bit better if you are in a climate where the temperature is all over the map.
The tighter, shorter bass string also gives the U1 a punchy attack down in the lower register, with the trade-off being less warmth at lower volume levels.
Ultimately, the U1’s reputation as a reliable, albeit bright, piano is as true today as it was back in the 1980s. Some of the newer U1s and U3s are being shipped with softer voicing from the factory level, and this has certainly lessened the impact of the attack.
Yamaha U1 Upright Piano Action – Materials, Construction & Feel
Moving onto the action, and we have a traditional wood action with maple hammers. In terms of the key dip, it’s pretty much down the middle.
The weighting on most U1s tends to be right down the middle as well, though U1s have a reputation among pianists for having a lighter touch, we think this perception is due to the fact that the U1 gets very loud very fast, which creates the illusion of a light touch.
Whether this is a good thing or bad thing depends on your playing style, but for people who are into an Elton John or Billy Joel style of playing, you’re likely to really enjoy this action.
A big difference between the U1 and K-300 aside from the actions materials themselves which we’ll get into down below when discussing the K-300 is the key length. Yamaha has maintained a fairly typical length of key stick on their uprights that has been virtually unchanged since the 1970s.
The K-300 alternatively has a longer key stick, which offers the player greater control, especially at lower dynamic levels.
For somebody who’s just starting out, this is probably not going to be a very big deal.
For somebody who is either a more advanced player, or somebody who’s going back and forth between a teacher’s grand piano and a practice piano, those longer key sticks on the K-300 may be something that is an important consideration.
Kawai K-300 Upright Piano
Kawai K-300 Series Information and Background
While there are many differences between the K-300 and the U1, there are a few obvious similarities too. For one, the Kawai K300 is also manufactured in Japan and is also 48” in height, both pianos have a soft fall fallboard and both pianos have very solid back posts.
The K-300 has developed just like the current U1 has where it’s essentially been evolving since the 1960s. Generally speaking, Kawai as a company tends to innovate their products very frequently, sometimes with mixed results, but since about the early 2000s, they’ve been cranking out a consistently stellar product.
Their most recent K-series update, which took their K3 (MMR magazine’s Acoustic Piano of the Year in 4 consecutive years) and upgraded it to the new K-300, the K5 to the new K500 and so on, incorporated many of the same design innovations that they first introduced with their GX professional quality grand pianos.
Besides the action, the K3 was actually quite similar to the Yamaha U1. There may have been some tonal differences, but from a general design standpoint, they weren’t dramatically different beasts. The K-300, on the other hand, has really been quite a departure from what you would get in a Yamaha U1.
Kawai K-300 Sound & Design Overview
A key thing that differentiates the K-300 from the U1 is the scale design and string length. Even though both pianos are the same height, the K-300 actually has a lower tension scale and bass string which is several centimetres longer than what you get on the U1.
The result is more warmth and roundness in the bass register on the K-300, but this is true across the entire range of the instrument.
The second meaningful difference is the solid spruce soundboard and the fact that the K-300 has a tapered soundboard. Tapering allows the soundboard to become active with less energy by precisely thinning out the edges of the soundboard.
This means that if you had the same level of dynamic energy going into the soundboard, a tapered soundboard will activate more surface area than a non-tapered soundboard.
Kawai’s Exclusive Millennium III Upright Action
The biggest difference between Kawai and Yamaha that everybody really used to focus on is the wood versus plastic debate with regard to action parts.
This debate is essentially antiquated at this point because both pianos have good actions, but there’s no longer any dispute regarding some of the inherent advantages of abs-carbon composite actions, especially with regard to its superiority over wood when it comes to maintenance and long-term durability.
The biggest thing from a musical standpoint with the K-300’s action is that it’s geared to take advantage of the tapered soundboard. The geometry paired with the extended key stick length gives the player more control in the lower dynamic ranges.
On the U1, it’s easier to achieve that forte and fortissimo with less effort. Depending on the style of music you’re playing, you will probably have a preference for one style versus the other. The key surfaces are fairly similar on both pianos.
Other action-related notes have to do with the hammers; the K-300 is equipped with double felted hammers with a mahogany core (underfelted), which is considered a superior hammer material to maple due to its greater strength and density. For context, the premium YUS series of uprights have mahogany hammers.
Yamaha U1 vs Kawai K-300 – Other Differences
There are a few other, minor, let’s say non-musical differences between the Yamaha U1 vs Kawai K-300. One of them is that the Kawai K300 is outfitted with a larger music desk that’s more accommodating to sheet music, especially four-fold and five-fold pieces.
Both pianos have a 10-year factory warranty, but while the U1 warranty is applicable to the original purchaser only, the K-300’s warranty is transferable to future owners within the warranty period. If resale is a consideration, this is a pretty critical difference.
The U1 is available in what Yamaha calls their TransAcoustic series, while the K-300 is available in an Aures version. Both of these additions have a digital piano component built in that gives you the option of playing the piano with headphones plugged in.
Both pianos have really high-quality brass casters and brass pedals.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this has helped to quickly clarify some of the most critical differences between these two very popular models.
Unfortunately, it can be tough to check them out side by side in the same showroom since Yamaha and Kawai are almost always sold through different dealer networks. But if you have an opportunity to try one and shoot across town to try the other, you should definitely do so.
There’s a very good reason these are the two dominant upright pianos of our day, and that’s highly unlikely to change anytime soon.