Classic Cantabile SP-250 BK Stage Piano black

As a last minute Christmas gift, it was delivered quickly and on time. It puts the previously existing keyboard in the shade. Much has not been tried in the short time but already times on the quick, it has a good velocity and a very good sound, very similar to a piano. In addition, with 88 keys can be played again some pieces better than with only 56 keys on a normal keyboard.

A week ago I made the long-planned trip to Schongau with the firm intention to have a look at keyboards and stage pianos. My musical roots lie with the keyboard, but since we have a digital piano in the living room, I also flirted with an instrument with weighted keyboard for my hobby cellar.

On the other hand, I don't want to miss playing with an automatic accompaniment, so interesting stage pianos like the FP30 from Roland didn't make it into the shortlist. In the end, the question was whether the SP-250 here or maybe Casio CDP-230R, which are priced in the same segment.

In the nicely sorted shop in Schongau I could then take hold of the keys of both candidates. No big difference concerning the playing feeling. In the direct sound comparison the SP-250 dominated clearly, here the Casio could not impress so. So I decided for the SP-250 and immediately took the base with the piano pedals and a piano stool.

Now the good piece is at home. After a week of trying it out, I can give my opinion here today. What I like is the range of functions, sounds and styles. Of course there are good and not so good presets, but with 230 styles and 600 voices you can always find something that fits the piece you want to play.

The operation is relatively clear and logically structured. The selection of styles and sounds is done by the buttons that roughly jump to the place of the lists and then you can fine tune with the rotary wheel or the buttons. Some would have preferred a block of ten to select the preset here, but you can live with it. Especially since you then have 48 memory locations for your selection and these memory banks can also be stored on a USB stick.

The keyboard is for someone like me who is used to keyboard keys a little bit. But after a week I have reached the point where I now feel at home on this nicely weighted keyboard.

What is not so great, that is the music stand which is actually only a wire frame and has a column at the bottom in which you can still accommodate the relatively thin "Aller Anfang ist leicht" piano school from Kirstein opened, but thicker music books just not. But here help a few nice clamps from the one-euro junk shop around the corner to fix the music books then opened.

I personally don't mind that the manual is only in English. Especially since you can download the German version on the product page here. Which is good for me again, because that means I can print out the tables with the styles and voices and laminate and so to speak as "Cheat sheets" at the instrument ready while the manual can then be put away when you have tried everything once.

All in all a clear buy recommendation. In this price range you hardly get more instrument for your money. Of course, you should not expect miracles, but for playing at home and for the fun of it is a very nice instrument.

We bought this stage piano based on a recommendation from our daughter's keyboard/piano teacher ( after 6 years of lessons on a Yamaha ez-220 in elementary school ). It has a good sound and is intuitive in terms of basic functions. In this respect, we are also very satisfied; as well as the playability.
For an all-embracing operation of the numerous and versatile possibilities, however, a manual in the respective national language of the buyer should be included. A manual only in English might be too much for interested children of 12 years. References to Internet sites - which then also did not "function"- I do not feel as appropriate . Therefore, there were no 5 stars from us !

I have played the last few years on the previous model already, and because I was convinced of it, I wanted to have the new SP 250. As far as price-performance is concerned, there is nothing comparable on the whole market anyway. If you want to have similar fun, and from renowned brands, you can easily pay 8-900 to 1200 €. This instrument satisfies completely. Is fun, variable, versatile, handy, and thus in the overall package absolutely convincing !!!!!

To find a beautiful instrument in this price range, which can be played as a piano as well as with some styles, is really unparalleled!