New P525 club member here. Did extensive research over several months. Had the opportunity to test the Roland PHA-50 action on a Roland HP-704 and found it to be a bit heavy and spongy. Never had the chance to actually play an FP90x ($2,000), but was concerned about its weight (52 lbs) and comments I heard about it's piano sounds. Tried a Kawai ES520, but not the ES920. Heard great things about the sounds on the ES920 ($1,900) with its plastic RHIII action, but was concerned about the overall build quality and lighter weight compared to its predecessor, the ES8. I tried very hard to like the Roland FP30x because of the much lower price ($699). Enjoyed the PHA4 key action, but was concerned that every demo model I played at Guitar Center had wonky keys and sounds, thus long term durability would definitely be an issue. Also sought out a Korg D1 (at $749), despite comments I read about the keybed durability. When I finally located a used model in "excellent" condition at Guitar Center, I was not surprised to find that it had five broken keys (thus affirming my concerns). Finally decided on the P525 due primarily to the responsive wooden key Grand Touch S action, the piano sounds, solid build, and the reasonable price ($1,599). I was primarily looking for a portable piano with a responsive action and wooden keys. After "auditioning" a P525 in the store I felt it was the best option for the price - hands down.
As you can see below, I own a 2003 Mason & Hamlin BB, a Kawai 2017 K500 upright, a 2013 Kawai CA65 with the Grand Feel wooden key action, and a 22 year old Korg SP100 stage piano. The Kawai CA65 still works fine, and has a very powerful sound. However, it is getting old, numerous keys are sticking, and all of the sliptape needs to be replaced on it (something I hope to do myself in the future). The Korg is a heavy, entry level keyboard with a whopping 32 note polyphony. Everything works, and the weighted keys are OK - except they don't allow for much in the way of nuance. I rarely use the Korg, and plan to give it away in the future. While I have the two acoustics, I'm not able to practice on them as much as I should (too much of a good thing for other family members to be subjected to over a long time). Thus I decided to "replace" the Korg with an ugraded portable piano that can be used for silent practice. I'm classically trained, and just use a digital for the piano and harpsichord sounds.
Last weekend, when I decided to audition a P525, I was surprised to find that there was only one on display in the entire Valley (Phoenix is the nation's 5th largest city, and is surrounded by several mid-sized cities). I drove 20 miles to the Guitar Center in Scottsdale only to find that the P525 model was NOT on display. HOWEVER, they had two in stock, so the salesman kindly offered to unpack one and put it up on the wall for me to play. I helped him unpack the board and then stood at it for over 45 minutes playing through the built in speakers. I figured it would sound even better through headpones, so I decided to take the leap and buy it. The salemsan went to the stockroom and brought out the other "boxed" P525. We somehow managed to creatively squeeze it into my Honda Accord, and I took it home, wheeled it into the house, carefully unpacked and set the keyboard up only to discover that the highest treble key was kapoot. Very disheartening. I immediately called the salesman, and we agreed that I would bring the damaged board back the next day and exchange it for the new one on the wall that I'd played for 45 minutes. He agreed to rebox that board so no one else would touch it. So after two trips and 80 miles, I finally got my new P525 home.
My impressions. While this is considered a "flagship" model of the Yamaha P series, it is, in fact, an intermediate level keyboard. But it is infinitely more refined than the popular Roland and Yamaha keyboards selling for half the price. My CA65 (which I paid $3K for eleven years ago) has twice the power and volume, more sounds, more substantial feel, etc. - - however, the Yamaha's Grand Touch S wooden key action is pretty amazing (light but firm). After initially setting the action to "Hard 2" I found the piano felt much more responsive on the "Medium" setting. I currently have the brightness set at 3, the reverb at "Room" and everything else pretty much at the factory settings. Playing with headphones, I was initially concerned about the "muddiness" of the CFX grand sound. I was using my trusty Sansui headphones that I purchased in an Army PX in Germany back in 1970 for about $16 dollars. grin Today I plugged in two other headphones, a Grado SR60x and a cheap ($20) headphone by Sony. Amazingly, the sound was great with these, and the muddiness went away. The only probem is that I have to keep the volume set at 80 or above - but it seems that is not unusual. Some revewers have expresed "concern" about the difference in feel between the wooden white keys and the all plastic black keys of the P525. Quite frankly, I feel no discernable difference between the two when playing.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with this purchase. The board comes with a 3 year warranty, and I'm hoping that the keybed etc. will hold up over the long haul.
