Kayserburg Piano – Pearl River’s new Flagship
Reprinted from Piano Price Point, Consumer Guide to Pianos.
(Continued)
For those of you who are skeptics, I can relate. It wasn’t until interviewing the Pearl River Piano Group (PRPG), at NAMM 2011 that I started to follow this company more closely. Instead of hiring a small army of manpower to facilitate manufacturing, they chose to invest millions into automated CNC machines. So advanced is their manufacturing that companies like Steinway (with their brand Essex) have entrusted them to build their pianos.
Fast forward to January 2013, Pearl River Piano Group released the all-new Kayserburg line. PRPG successfully constructed a “company within a company” – a separate division to undertake building their highest level of instruments to compete with European makers for the most discerning pianists.
So what makes a piano compete at this level? Only those with a background, like Mohler’s, would know. Introducing Kayserburg pianos featuring: Louis Renner premium hammers from Germany ~ Ebony wood sharps ~ European Roslau strings ~ High elevation spruce soundboard ~ Maple bridges vertically laminated with rosewood, beech capped ~ Traditional sand cast plate ~ Nickel blued tuning pins ~ Schwander type action with all maple parts ~ Solid spruce keys with maple buttons ~ Tuned hammer shanks ~ Hand-wound bass strings ~ Quarter sawn ribs doweled to the soundboard and mortised to the rim ~ “Ivolan” German keytops (a mineral-plastic substance that is very ivory-like) ~ Hand-made by the Artist team and each finished product inspected by Mohler.
What caught my attention was a blind ‘taste test’ in California this January where the Kayserburg went head to head against some of the most expensive pianos in the world.
The results? 80% thought that it was the highest-priced piano. 100% thought that it was within the top two. In fact, the retail price was the lowest.
It was stated by one pianist “the touch of this piano is so far superior to the others that it MUST be the most expensive one.” Why mention this piano? I think it’s going to be one worth watching in the coming years. Never before has China produced a piano that can compete on a Tier 1 (highest) level of pianos… all for a price that is by most considered reasonable. Grands to follow within the next year.
My only caution is to not get the branding levels of Kayserburg confused. Apparently Pearl River has in past used the Kayserburg name in Australia. This new series is appropriately called the “Artists” series and is labelled in the top right corner of the cabinet (as pictured). The other Kayserburgs are apparently more similar to the Ritmuller line except with laminated soundboards. New Artists pianos have the model designation KA while the others are UH. They are vastly different pianos… and just wanted to clarify. If you want to see the pianos in Piano Price Point, simply press the button below.
With every component selected for its precision and quality, with craftsmanship that reflects the very best in European manufacturing techniques, and with innovative designs, Kayserburg Artists Series represent the new standard in outstanding acoustic definition and performance.
Altogether, Pearl River has successfully achieved the creation of “the finest pianos in the world” with the Kayserburg Artists Series.