Of course you are correct, Lee...they are overpriced! What makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow (but pure sweet candy for the dealer) is that they are generally an easy sell, especially the ebony and polished mahogany models.

I oughta know...I demoed quite a few of them, and watched many people fork over quite a chunk of change without a whimper.

Visually pleasing instruments are usually an easy sell, especially when they also manage to sound pretty good too, and the CVP manages to do that very well...however, some people hear with their eyes.

The person behind the average Clavinova purchase is usually the lady of the home, and generally they are not remotely aware of the differences in their chosen instrument and a Tyros, which is viewed as more of a synthesizer/keyboard instrument...they are also more concerned with how it will look in the living/music room, and that it can be used for the kid's piano lessons.

My biggest beef with the CVP was the lack of pitch/mod wheels...otherwise, they were a really nice instrument to play...great keyboard action, and, the higher end CVP's had double the polyphony of a Tyros.

But, yes, a tad overpriced for sure.

Ian