We represented Yamaha pianos for over 20 years, and we still feel they make great pianos, but we had to ask ourselves: why does it take $42,599 and three different models for Yamaha to offer almost the same premium design features and materials Steinway’s Essex does for $16,900?

Though it has a lower retail price than the Yamaha GB1k, The Essex EGP-155, by Steinway & Sons has every design feature and premium material known in the industry to enhance performance and longevity. We have to ask: what design feature or material selection justifies the price of the Yamaha C1X?

The Yamaha GB1K has no premium features. In the Yamaha lineup, you would have to pay upwards of $10,000 to get duplex scaling on the GC series and then many more thousands to get the additional features of the CX series. In marketing, these are called step-up features. However, Steinway & Sons has a one-piano philosophy, where every Boston is made the same and every Essex piano is made the same. Steinway never compromises core features and premium material selection to meet a price point. Instead, they adhere to Henrich Steinway’s motto: “build the best piano possible and sell it at the lowest price consistent with quality.” Steinway’s company culture is built on it.

These charts are organized from highest to lowest price. Every Boston & Essex grand has every premium feature. Competitor’s pianos do not.

Let’s compare the Boston GP-215 to the Yamaha S6X. The S6X marks the entry point in Yamaha’s lineup for a maple rim, but it comes with a price tag nearly 40% higher than the Boston. If you look at sheer build quality, the Boston is actually 30 lbs heavier, indicating denser, higher-quality materials. It begs the question: what is in the Yamaha to justify that steep price? We haven’t found anything to explain it, nor have the 250+ All-Steinway Schools that choose Boston pianos exclusively for their practice facilities.

Further down the lineup, the entry-level Yamaha GB1K misses out on premium design elements altogether, whereas the Essex EGP-155 incorporates them throughout.

Moving up to the Yamaha C1X—at nearly triple the price—you get closer to a complete feature set, but Yamaha leaves key details like soundboard grade and rim material completely unspecified. Yamaha explicitly advertises maple on their high-end SX Series, acknowledging it as the superior choice for rim construction.

We’ve done the research: this chart lays it all out clearly, showing you exactly which components are built in—and which ones were left out.

Greman Roslau piano strings are found in the Yamaha YUS5, but not in any of their more affordable models. Roslau strings are found in all Boston uprights. Mapes strings are found on Boston grands and Essex uprights.

About Roslau Strings

Stahl- and Drahtwerk Röslau GmbH  is a German manufacturer of some of the finest piano wire in the world. Known for its consistency and rich tone, it is found in many high performance pianos…including Essex, by Steinway & Sons.

About Mapes Strings

Known for their “singing tone” and made right here in the USA, Mapes strings have been found on Steinway & Sons pianos for over a century. A fourth generation company, Mapes holds the first patent for a string winding machine.

Even the most affordable Essex upright has every single premium design feature.

At nearly twice the price of the Essex EUP-123S, the Yamaha U1 is actually an inch shorter and offers only half the backframe cross-sectional area (CSA). Meanwhile, Yamaha’s P22 sits at roughly the same price point, but comes in four inches shorter. Is it any surprise that so many schools are making the switch to Essex?

When we evaluated Yamaha, Kawai, and Essex side-by-side, the conclusion was clear: Steinway-designed Essex pianos deliver significantly better value across the board. Even at the entry level, the comparison holds up—the budget-friendly Yamaha B2 carries just 25% of the backframe CSA found in the Essex EUP-116 while omitting all premium design features entirely.

Cross-Sectional Area (CSA) is calculated by the number of posts times the area of each post. The five 10cm x 10cm posts of the Essex EUP-123S give it a 500cm CSA.

The backframe of an upright piano does the same job as the curved rim of a grand piano: it holds the soundboard in place and maintains the all-important crown of the soundboard for the life of the piano. You do not see it, but all piano soundboards are designed with just the right amount of curvature (crown) to maximize sound projection.

When the strings are tightened to their approximately 40,000 lbs. of cumulative tension, there will be approximately 700 lbs. of pressure pushing down on the bridges, and therefore the soundboard. The stronger the backframe, the better the soundboard crown will meet and hold against that 700lbs. of pressure for the life of the piano.

A backframe with substantial Cross-Sectional Area promotes long piano life and better performance later in life.

Big decisions require a lot of research; we did so much of it, this page became one of the most talked about pages in the piano world. When we sold Yamaha and Kawai acoustic pianos side-by-side, our impression was that, dollar-for-dollar, these two brands were equal in quality and performance and it really came down to which piano had the touch and tone a shopper preferred. It made sense to us: Kawai was started by Koichi Kawai, who worked for Yamaha before starting his own company. The two companies have been competing in Japan since 1927 and have historically mirrored each other in design and production techniques.

When the new Yamaha B Series uprights came out, we noticed several departures from what we considered to be good design. The new Yamaha pianos were not like the ones we had represented for over 20 years. Really good designs previously made in Yamaha’s Chinese factory were all at once discontinued and demonstrably inferior B-series models were introduced from Indonesia at the same price.

Most of our clients are parents shopping for a starter piano for their children to practice on while they are taking lessons, so pianos in the more affordable price ranges represent a large part of our business. We have always prided ourselves on being good shoppers: able to select the best values for our customers, so we set out to discover who was producing the finest affordable pianos in the world. Unsurprisingly, our research led us to the maker of the finest pianos in the world: Steinway & Sons.

It is worth noting that through the 1960s and 1970s, many would agree that Baldwin was the predominant affordable piano, recommended by teachers and technicians alike for beginners and recreational pianists. When Yamaha pianos were initially exported to North America they were not considered to be well made. In fact, the Japanese manufacturer had much to learn about seasoning wood materials for the North American market, as homes in this region are typically much drier than those in Japan—especially during the winter months when we heat our homes and dry the air. Today, Yamaha touts their “Seasoned for Destination” pianos, where the wood for pianos destined for North America is seasoned longer than the wood for pianos destined for the domestic Japanese market.

By the 1980s and 1990’s, Japanese factories produced very consistent quality products, beating out American manufacturers across a myriad of industries, pianos included. Baldwin filed for bankruptcy in 1984, but a management buyout saved the company for a time. It took a long time, decades in fact, but Yamaha, and to a lesser degree, Kawai, won the hearts and minds of piano technicians and teachers, eventually replacing Baldwin as the most recommended affordable piano. Baldwin suffered a second bankruptcy in 2001, eventually ending all US production and the Baldwin piano as we had known it.

In 1991, Steinway & Sons developed an entirely new line called Boston Pianos. This new brand incorporated all the best design features of a Steinway, but instead of being handmade, it was manufactured on a production line under the supervision of a team of Steinway engineers. It was an unqualified success. Today, Boston is the #1 exclusive collegiate practice piano. Over 250 top colleges, universities, and conservatories use Boston pianos exclusively in their practice rooms, faculty offices and for any purpose not fulfilled by a Steinway piano. This is an achievement worth noting, because, in the 325+ year history of the piano, no manufacturer has accomplished anything like this.

In 2001, building on the success of the Boston line, Steinway developed Essex Pianos using the same formula. Essex benefits from global labor rates, bringing the cost down to about half that of a Boston, but retains all of the core design features. Essex is the only affordable brand we have ever encountered where every model is built with the same quality standards. Steinway does not eliminate features or alter material specifications simply to meet a lower price point. In fact, Essex pianos compare favorably with similarly-sized pianos by other manufacturers priced two to three times higher.

When we did most of our research, comparing Yamaha vs. Kawai vs. Essex, we found a lot of chatter about Essex in piano forums. We do not recall ever seeing anyone say they did not like the performance of Essex pianos. The only recurring criticism, however unsubstantiated, was that shoppers would somehow be “paying for the name.” In other words, the price of Essex was assumed to be elevated because it is a Steinway product. We can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Essex delivers value far beyond it’s price. In fact, when you compare similarly-priced pianos side-by-side, it might be said that shoppers are paying too much for the Yamaha name these days.

We think brands are important because they demonstrate a record of quality to shoppers. But they can also be confusing when a brand has a huge number of models, feature configurations, price points and levels of quality within the same brand.

As experts in the industry, if were presented two pianos with no brand name on the fallboard, this page describes exactly how we would we compare one to the other and evaluate the quality of the design, materials, and craftsmanship. We would search for these features and materials, because we know they are consistently found in the industry’s best pianos. This is not just a list of Essex or Boston or Steinway features, it is an explanation of specifications found on most performance pianos. It just so happens that, when we compare Yamaha vs. Kawai, vs. Essex, Essex pianos are the only pianos to have all the features at a very affordable price.

We have received many kind compliments on this page from frustrated shoppers all over the world who are having trouble differentiating one piano from another. While the “test drive” will ultimately tell you which pianos will inspire you, not all shoppers are accomplished pianists and some do not play at all. We hope this page makes your piano search more enjoyable.

There is always something better and more expensive. With Essex, Steinway has created a unique, affordable piano line, where every model is made the same and never are advanced features left out simply to lower the cost. Essex delivers exceptional performance well above its price and we feel anyone looking at new or used pianos in an affordable price range should absolutely give them a try.

Paul Jennings, Owner of Upstate Pianos