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Big Kurzweil Price Increases June 1


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Saw this from Dave Weister:

 

Kurzweil Music Systems PC4 and SP6 prices are going up as of June . Applies to all US dealers.

PC4 going from $1999 to $2499.

PC4-7 going from $1799 to $1999.

SP6 going from $1299 to $1499

SP6-7 going from $1199 to $1299

 

I think some of this is to be expected. Lots of products from Nord, Roland, Kawai and others have gone up since last year. I know there are issues ranging from supply chain disruptions, shortages of chips in Asia, limited capacity and staffing of factories, shipping delays for loading/unloading, and higher gas prices in the US for delivery.

 

I don't know -- a 25% price increase for a PC4 is a lot. I think it put the PC4 into a bad spot. The MODX8 is $500 less and the K2700 is only $500 more. Maybe they want to nudge the PC4 buyer up to the K2700.

 

But if the PC4 is now in the same ballpark price as the Korg Nautilus, the Nautilus is going to be a better value.

 

I also think the SP6 is not a $1499 piano with a Medelli keyboard when things like Kawai ES920 are now in that price range.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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So clearly they are incurring greater costs in their supply chain. That"s a shame. Current prices were quite a selling point. The switch to Medeli was surely to make these price points as much as to keep weight down. Will other manufacturers be forced to do the same?

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Right? And the shipping to Australia is a fraction of the distance to CA.

 

haha, tell THAT to Yamaha, Roland et al... apparently even though geographically we are closer to Asia, shipping is no cheaper!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Oof, that's rough. Definitely means that if I wait long enough before deciding it's gonna be the K2700 over the PC4, but I'm not sure I pick the PC4 at that price point. Still worth an argument for considering that it keeps a bunch of features of flagships compared to the ~$2k options, but that's a much stronger argument when it's in the same price range instead of a step up.
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The MODX8 is $500 less and the K2700 is only $500 more. Maybe they want to nudge the PC4 buyer up to the K2700.

 

I guess we can expect a price increase for K2700 too then.

But supply and demand will regulate.

I never buy early and wait until (Thomann) street price will be right for me.

 

A.C.

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I casually track keyboard prices, and it's a safe bet the better ones are going up. Some will point to constrained supply, I would point to dramatically increased demand in a covid world. I would presume that these boards aren't for gigging (yet), but instead are being used at home.

 

The other thing that struck me is what a great value all these keyboards are by any historical standards. This level of technology just wasn't available that long ago. We just expect wonderous actions, perfectly sampled pianos, accurately modeled organs and our DSP-powered reverb to have dozens of convolutions to choose from. FIrst world problems, right?

 

I'm debating whether or not to pick up another Stage 3 Compact. It's become the universal board for all the different things I do. Having a spare is huge. I'd like to have to gig with, and one to program, then periodically swap the two.

 

B-stock is relatively cheap right now. I expect Nord to come out with a Stage 4 or Stage 3EX sometime this fall or next spring, and at a higher price point. People will grumble, then pay it.

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The price increases are due to increased tax rates from products sourced from China.

 

"The United States is currently imposing a 25 percent tariff on approximately $250 billion of imports from China and a 7.5 percent tariff on approximately $112 billion worth of imports from China"

 

Here is one of dozens of articles on the topic: https://taxfoundation.org/tariffs-trump-trade-war/

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

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The price increases are due to increased tax rates from products sourced from China.

 

"The United States is currently imposing a 25 percent tariff on approximately $250 billion of imports from China and a 7.5 percent tariff on approximately $112 billion worth of imports from China"

 

Here is one of dozens of articles on the topic: https://taxfoundation.org/tariffs-trump-trade-war/

 

This doesn"t seem like the leading factor in that Kurzweil set their prices for these boards with tariffs in place. A June 1 increase suggests factors more recent. Certainly in Q1 2021?

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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This doesn"t seem like the leading factor in that Kurzweil set their prices for these boards with tariffs in place. A June 1 increase suggests factors more recent. Certainly in Q1 2021.

The full tarriffs kicked in Jan 1 of this year. There were many exclusions before then (link below), maybe some of those were relevant to Kurzweil, I don't know. (They may have also tried to hold the line for a while hoping that the new administration might change the tarriff policy...?) Regardless, as Jeff alluded to in the OP, there are probably numerous factors contributing.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/business/economy/china-tariffs-exclusions-expire.html

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They may have also tried to hold the line for a while hoping that the new administration might change the tarriff policy...?

This was my exact thought when I wrote my response above. I think they were holding to see what was going to transpire.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Went ahead and picked up a PC4 today since my brain had told me that June was still a month or so away until I noticed the price increase while doing my weekly check of if any of the places near me had their storefronts open yet. Panicked after seeing it and snagged one of the few left on reverb that hadn't had prices increased to match yet. Definitely was hesitant given the variability in weighted actions, but I figure I'm unfamiliar enough with them (besides some piano lessons 20 years ago I've been playing on synth or semiweighted actions) that I'll adapt. And if I don't I bet used prices go up over the medium term so that I don't lose much.
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I hate to say it, but this may be the first of many price hikes we see, at least in the short term, as the pressure brought to bear on the shipping industry by the Covid pandemic has seen the cost of container shipping soar, a subject I recently examined for a (non-MI) trade magazine I edit. A container which may have cost 500UKP to bring over from the Far East is currently well over twice that cost. Raw materials are also experiencing marked shortages and associated price hikes. British Steel recently increased the per-tonne price of construction steel twice â once by 50UKP and less than a month later a further 200UKP per tonne was added. At one point, the company even stopped taking new orders, things were so tight.

Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37

Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D

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I bought a PC4 recently, and love it. I paid 2K

 

Had it been 2500, I would not have pulled the trigger

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

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When I got mine, I had a self imposed $2K limit. I also would not have gotten it at $2500.

I don't derive any income from my purchases. Just a hobby for me.

I'm sure they'll lose some sales because of it, but also sure that it won't matter much for some people.

One can only hope for better times. :(

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Same here. At $2500 I would have pushed towards a Roland Fantom.

 

Interesting... so you think the Fantom was better, just too exxy?

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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I replaced a Forte 7 with a Fantom 8 last year. Both are excellent instruments and have distinct capabilities over the other. The Fantom 8 definitely meets my needs better as a home studio instrument, but is too large to play gigs with for me. I love the Forte, and considered the PC4 as a gigging instrument, but I didn't care for it quite as much.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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Same here. At $2500 I would have pushed towards a Roland Fantom.

 

Interesting... so you think the Fantom was better, just too exxy?

I guess I would have gotten the Fantom 6 for $2500, basically 'cause I liked the Logic Pro integration.

But then I got to know the 88 keys PC4 and never looked back.

Maybe I"ll get the new FA sibling when it"s launched this year.

Or the MODX successor. Not paying more than $1000 though.

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Same here. At $2500 I would have pushed towards a Roland Fantom.

 

Interesting... so you think the Fantom was better, just too exxy?

I guess I would have gotten the Fantom 6 for $2500, basically 'cause I liked the Logic Pro integration.

But then I got to know the 88 keys PC4 and never looked back.

Maybe I"ll get the new FA sibling when it"s launched this year.

Or the MODX successor. Not paying more than $1000 though.

 

Cool, thx

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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