The brand new Kawai CA401 is the most affordable way to access a full-pivot wood-key action in the market, period. For customers happy with a CN Series level of technology, but prioritizing the key action, the CA401 is the perfect solution; in essence, a CN201 with real piano keys.
$3,199.00
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Short version: the CA401 is the most affordable way into Kawai’s CA series, and the CA series is where a digital piano starts to feel like an instrument rather than a keyboard.
What sets it apart is the action. Every key is made from a long piece of wood, with let-off and counterweights, so it plays more like an acoustic than the plastic actions most pianos use at this level. The piano sound comes from the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand: rich, warm and even across the keyboard, which is the Kawai hallmark.
Buy it if you’re a student or a returning player who wants touch that will carry you into serious repertoire, in a cabinet that looks at home in the living room.
Think twice if you record or play through an external sound system: the CA401 has no line outputs or USB audio recording, and its polyphony is 192 notes. The CA501 adds all of those, plus 100 W of speaker power.
If wooden keys are on your list, this is where we’d start.
Stu Harrison, pianist and educator · President, Merriam Music
Kawai’s Grand Feel Compact action, with let-off, triple sensor detection, counterweights and Ivory Touch key surfaces.
Piano tones recorded from the SK-EX Competition Grand and Kawai EX Concert Grand, plus a K-60 upright.
A matching bench, two headphone jacks, built-in lesson books and Bluetooth for Kawai’s PianoRemote and PiaBookPlayer apps.
Choosing a CA
Both have the same Grand Feel Compact action with 88 wooden keys. The CA501 adds sound, power and connections.
| Kawai CA401 | Kawai CA501 | |
|---|---|---|
| Action | Grand Feel Compact, 88 wooden keys | Grand Feel Compact, 88 wooden keys |
| Sound engine | Progressive Harmonic Imaging | Harmonic Imaging XL, adds the SK-5 Chamber Grand |
| Polyphony | 192 | 256 |
| Sounds | 19 | 45 |
| Amplifier | 20 W × 2 | 50 W × 2 |
| Line in / out | No | Yes |
| USB audio recording | No | MP3 and WAV |
| Width × weight | 53-1/2 in, 126 lb 12 oz | 56 in, 145 lb 8 oz |
The bottom line: if you mainly play piano at home, the CA401 gives you the action that matters most. Choose the CA501 if you want more sounds, more power, or to record and connect to other equipment. Both are on our Atlanta showroom floor.
Compare
The home digital pianos buyers most often compare with the CA401, side by side from each maker’s published specifications.
| Kawai CA401 | Yamaha CLP-835 | Roland HP702 | Roland LX-5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action | Grand Feel Compact, 88 wooden keys, let-off, triple sensor | GrandTouch-S, escapement | PHA-4 Standard, escapement | PHA-50 Hybrid, escapement |
| Piano sound | SK-EX, EX and K-60 samples | Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial samples | SuperNATURAL Piano Modeling | Piano Reality Modeling |
| Polyphony | 192 | 256 | Unlimited (piano); 384 | Unlimited (piano); 256 |
| Built-in sounds | 19 | 38 | 324 | 324 |
| Amplifier total | 40 W | 60 W | 28 W | 90 W |
| Speakers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bluetooth | Audio and MIDI | Audio and MIDI (varies by area) | Audio and MIDI | Audio and MIDI |
| Width × depth | 53-1/2 × 19-1/4 in | 57-1/16 × 18-1/8 in | 54-1/4 × 18-7/16 in | 54-1/2 × 18-7/16 in |
| Weight | 126 lb 12 oz | 125 lb 11 oz | 119 lb 15 oz | 164–167 lb |
By the numbers: the CA401 is the only one with wooden keys, and the narrowest. The Roland HP702 is the lightest, and the Roland pianos have the most built-in sounds. The Roland LX-5 has the most amplifier power. The Roland HP702 and Roland LX-5 are also available from Merriam online.
Specifications from Kawai, Yamaha and Roland, October 2026. Amplifier totals add up each maker’s per-channel ratings. Yamaha figures are for the standard (non-polished) finish.
Buying from Merriam
Authorized dealers sell the CA401 at the same advertised price, so here’s what you get when you buy it from us. Questions first? Call (888) 316-0630, 7 days a week.
The CA401 is on the floor at Merriam Pianos Atlanta, next to the CA501, CA901 and Kawai’s CN series, so you can hear the difference for yourself before you decide.
Shipping is free anywhere in the lower 48 states, and in-stock orders leave our warehouse within 1–3 business days. Across metro Atlanta, our team delivers and sets it up. See shipping and delivery.
Bought from an authorized US dealer, the CA401 carries Kawai America’s 5-year parts-and-labor warranty.
If it isn’t right for you, you have 45 days to return it. See our returns policy.
If an authorized US Kawai dealer advertises it for less, we’ll match it.
Choose Affirm at checkout. Your monthly rate is shown on this page.
What’s in the box: the piano with its built-in pedals, a matching bench, a headphone hook, the AC adaptor and power cord.
The CA401 is the entry point to Kawai’s Concert Artist series, the line Kawai builds for players who want a digital piano that behaves like an acoustic. It pairs the Grand Feel Compact action, with 88 wooden keys, with Progressive Harmonic Imaging sampled from the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Competition Grand and the Kawai EX Concert Grand.
It’s made for students and families as much as experienced players: built-in lesson books from Alfred’s Basic Piano Library to Czerny and Chopin, two headphone jacks, a 2.5-inch OLED display, and Bluetooth for Kawai’s PianoRemote and PiaBookPlayer apps.
Kawai’s wooden-key home pianos. The CA401, CA501 and CA901 share the wooden-key philosophy and step up in sound and speakers.
Kawai is one of the world’s two largest acoustic piano makers, and the action is where its digital pianos earn their reputation.
The Grand Feel Compact action uses 88 keys made from long pieces of wood, on a metal balance pin with an extended pivot, so the keys respond evenly from front to back. Grade-weighted hammers, let-off simulation, triple sensor detection and bass-region counterweights complete the grand-piano feel, with Ivory Touch key surfaces on top.
Progressive Harmonic Imaging recreates the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Competition Grand, the Kawai EX Concert Grand and the K-60 upright, with damper and string resonance for the way a real piano sustains. Kawai’s Virtual Technician lets you shape the tone with 10 presets on the piano, or 18 parameters in the PianoRemote app. Four speakers, two woofers and two tweeters, carry it into the room.
Four speakers, two 13 cm woofers and two 5 cm tweeters, driven by 40 W of amplification.
192 notes of polyphony, so sustained, pedaled passages hold together.
338 built-in pieces, including lesson books from Alfred’s to Czerny and Chopin waltzes.
The CA401 keeps things simple: Bluetooth for apps and streaming, USB to connect to a computer, and two headphone jacks for practice at any hour.
Stream music through the piano’s speakers, or connect to Kawai’s PianoRemote and PiaBookPlayer apps.
Connect to a computer or tablet for music software and learning apps.
One 1/4″ and one 1/8″, so two people can practice silently at the same time.
| Specification | Kawai CA401 |
|---|---|
| Keyboard & Action | |
| Keys | 88 wooden keys |
| Action | Grand Feel Compact, with grade-weighted hammers, let-off simulation, triple sensor detection and bass-region counterweights |
| Key surface | Ivory Touch |
| Sound | |
| Sound engine | Progressive Harmonic Imaging (PHI), 88-key piano sampling |
| Sampled pianos | Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Competition Grand, Kawai EX Concert Grand, K-60 upright |
| Polyphony | 192 notes |
| Sounds | 19 |
| Resonance | Damper resonance, string resonance |
| Virtual Technician | 10 presets on the piano; 18 parameters in the PianoRemote app |
| Speakers | 13 cm × 2 (woofers), 5 cm × 2 (tweeters) |
| Amplifier | 20 W × 2 |
| Pedals | |
| Pedals | Grand Feel Pedal System: sustain (with half-pedal), soft, sostenuto |
| Connectivity | |
| Bluetooth | MIDI (version 5.0) and audio (version 5.1) |
| USB | USB to Host |
| Headphones | 2 jacks: 1/4" and 1/8" |
| Apps | PianoRemote, PiaBookPlayer |
| Display | 128 × 128 OLED |
| Recorder | 3 songs, 1 part |
| Built-in songs | 338: 19 demos, 279 lesson pieces, 40 Concert Magic songs |
| Build & Dimensions | |
| Dimensions (W × D × H) | 53-1/2 × 19-1/4 × 36-1/4 in, music rest down (1,360 × 486 × 915 mm) |
| Height, music rest up | 43 in (109 cm) |
| Weight | 126 lb 12 oz (57.5 kg) |
| In the Box | |
| Included | Matching bench, headphone hook, AC adaptor, power cord, owner’s manual |
Specifications per Kawai’s official CA401 documentation. Contact Merriam with any questions before purchase.
Yes. All 88 keys are made from long pieces of wood, not plastic with a wood veneer, in Kawai’s Grand Feel Compact action.
They share the same wooden-key action. The CA501 adds Harmonic Imaging XL with the SK-5 Chamber Grand, 256-note polyphony, 45 sounds, 100 W of amplification, line inputs and outputs, and USB audio recording.
Its main piano tones are sampled from the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Competition Grand and the Kawai EX Concert Grand, with a K-60 upright for a different color.
53-1/2 inches wide and 19-1/4 inches deep, and 36-1/4 inches tall with the music rest down.
Yes. The CA401 comes with a matching bench.
Kawai America’s 5-year parts-and-labor warranty, for the original owner, when bought from an authorized US Kawai dealer such as Merriam.
Yes. It’s on the floor at Merriam Pianos Atlanta, alongside the CA501, CA901 and Kawai’s CN series.
Yes. We deliver and set up across metro Atlanta, and shipping is free to addresses throughout the lower 48 states.
Yes. If you find the CA401 advertised for less by an authorized US Kawai dealer, send us the link and we’ll match it.
This site is set up for delivery within the US, with pricing, tax and shipping calculated accordingly. We currently ship only to addresses in the contiguous United States.
| Weight | 176.4 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 57.7 × 28.1 × 23 in |
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