Yamaha Premium CF Series: A Legacy of Excellence

Few companies worldwide invest as much time, energy, and financial resources in research and development to achieve musical results as Yamaha. Its intensive training for the many craftspeople involved in building instruments is remarkable. In fact, the company holds over 5,000 innovative patents on acoustic piano materials and design/manufacturing processes. An astonishing feat, indeed.

Yamaha offers a wide range of piano options — uprights, baby grands, and grand pianos, as acoustic instruments or equipped with a range of technology enhancements, as seen in its Clavinova, Avant Hybrid, Disklavier, Silent, and TransAcoustic models.

You may even be surprised to learn that Yamaha offers five levels of the grand piano series, designed for different purposes and to appeal to a variety of price points, including the:

• Yamaha GB1K is a baby grand piano with a length of 5’0” (151 cm) that offers room-filling sound and is designed to fit into smaller spaces.
• Yamaha GC Series consists of larger grand pianos in various sizes, which feature refined actions and enhanced components to provide higher performance and expressiveness. The larger size also allows for greater dynamic range and tonal complexity.
• Yamaha CX Series, grand pianos that are meticulously handcrafted and known for their exceptional tonal clarity, offer outstanding responsiveness, expressive capabilities, and a high level of performance.
• Yamaha SX Series, the company’s premium line of grand pianos, balances high-quality sound with affordability, making them suitable for serious pianists and institutions.
• Yamaha CF Series includes Yamaha’s most renowned concert grand pianos, developed in collaboration with top concert pianists and considered among the most prestigious instruments in the piano world.

There are many benefits to owning and playing a well-made grand piano, and the top-tier CF Series leaves no stone unturned. Let’s take a peek at what sets these magnificent instruments apart.

At every price point and level, Yamaha consistently reaches for the highest standards, and nowhere is this more seen than in Yamaha’s handcrafted CF Series pianos.

Yamaha’s CF Series pianos are the choice of accomplished artists, educators, composers, universities, schools of music, and recording studios around the globe. These pianos are the pinnacle of Yamaha’s crafting experience, featuring exceptional tonal clarity, rich resonance, and unparalleled touch sensitivity.

Musicians worldwide are captivated by their expressive range, which effortlessly translates their artistic vision into melodic masterpieces — the perfect combination of beauty and power.

There are three models in Yamaha’s CF Series of grand pianos: CF4, CF6, and CX.

The CF4 is the smallest among the three CF models and:

• Is approximately 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) long.
• Offers a warm and rich tone with a balanced sound across the entire range and is known for its clarity and expressive capabilities.
• Is suitable for intermediate to advanced pianists, chamber music performances, recording studios, and smaller concert venues.

The CF6 is larger than the CF4, and:

• Measures around 7 feet (212 cm) in length and can be considered a “semi-concert grand” piano.
• Produces a more robust and resonant sound than the CF4, particularly in the lower registers.
• Offers a wider dynamic range and greater tonal depth.

The CFX is newly redesigned and known for its powerful and clear sound and ability to fill concert halls with rich harmonics and tonal complexity. It:

• Is an impressive 9 feet (275 cm) in length and is known as a “concert grand piano.”
• Has a wide dynamic range and exceptional projection, incorporating advanced engineering and materials to enhance tonal balance and sustain.
• Is designed specifically for large venues and is widely used in prestigious concert halls and by top-tier pianists for demanding solo performances.

The secret of Yamaha’s CF Series pianos is unveiled in a private section of the famed Kakegawa factory in Hamamatsu, Japan. Here, just thirty-five seasoned and elite technicians and craftspeople, who have spent years perfecting their craft, are designing and manufacturing these masterpieces.

With nothing more than the directive to build the world’s finest grands, these elite artisans have spent more than thirty years in research and development. Together with some of the world’s greatest pianists and famed piano experts, they’ve perfected the scale and design of these premium instruments.

How has today’s Yamaha achieved such artistic acclaim for its CF Series pianos? These instruments are the result of an intensive pursuit to build the finest performance-grade pianos by integrating advanced materials, revolutionary design concepts, and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques that elevate Yamaha pianos to new heights.

One of the most outstanding features of the CF Series pianos is its dynamic range —think Stradivarius for pianos. Whether you’re playing soft or loud, each note is perfectly balanced and articulated, allowing each player the potential to reach their musical ambition.

The recently-introduced CFX piano, also known as “ARE” (Acoustic Resonance Enhancement), has changed the game for piano enthusiasts worldwide. By combining steam, heat, and atmospheric pressure, ARE technology changes the cellular structure of the rim to make new pianos sound like they have been played for years. This advancement in piano manufacturing opens new doors to pianists and musicians everywhere — a brand-new piano with a vintage sound.

Additional advancements include a redesigned and reshaped soundboard, using hand-selected slow-grown top-grade European spruce to maximize vibration. This, along with redesigned bridges, redesigned cast-iron plates, and a completely new hammer design, the result of testing more than 100 prototypes — all create the ultimate transference of vibration into complex resonance, resulting in pianos with a lush spectrum of tonal colors, astounding bloom, longer sustain, and rich harmonics.