REVIEW-Adagio GDP8820 & MGP100 Digital Grand Pianos

acoustic grand piano

Owning, playing, or listening to a good quality Baby Grand or full Grand Piano has always been a very satisfying musical experience. There is something very special and even “magical” about seeing a Grand piano in a person’s home or on stage. In the world of digital pianos, various manufacturers are producing digital pianos in the smaller baby grand or micro grand cabinets and some of them are impressive and some are not. Generally speaking, most of the digital grands look good on the outside, but it’s what’s “under the hood” that really counts. This includes actual cabinet construction, the type of finish applied to the exterior, how the key action moves and feels, the dynamics and response of the piano sound, and the overall sounds and  other digital features of the instrument.

Adagio GDP8820

There are basically two price categories of digital Baby Grands; under $3000 and over $3000. Unfortunately I not have found or ever played a new digital grand piano advertised for under $3000 that is worth owning and this would include the smaller size Adagio GDP8820 4’1″ digital baby grand & the Adagio MGP100 3’3″ micro baby grand (also known as MDG1000 – same exact piano). The Adagio pianos are distributed by the Kaysound company located in Canada and the pianos are made in China. The Kaysound company does not make pianos and the Adagio name is a made-up name put on these pianos. Adagio pianos are primarily sold through Costco & Sam’s Club as well as a couple of other on-line stores.



The Adagio GDP8820 is really a baby grand piano shaped version of the Adagio KDP8826 small upright digital piano ($999 at Costco) which I have reviewed in an earlier blog Adagio KDP8826 Review. The MGP100 micro grand is really a baby grand shaped version of their Adagio KDP88 small console digital piano ($499 at Costco) which has just 8 sounds and is a basic digital piano in a nice cabinet but has a very poor key action & piano response.

Unfortunately I have not played or heard an Adagio piano that I liked. In fact, these pianos have such poor key actions and poor piano response dynamics & expression that I advise people to stay away from them if they want a satisfying piano playing and/or learning experience. Although the cabinets may be attractive to look at (and they are), and some of the digital/electronic functions may seem cool, the “inside” of the piano is definitely not something I recommend at any price. If you think I may be a bit too harsh in my observations of these pianos then take a look at reviews of actual owners of these pianos who have written their complaints on-line.

Kohler KD5

There are also some positive (good) consumer reviews of these pianos out there, but as I have said in my other blogs many times concerning those good reviews, “ignorance is bliss” and “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.” There will always be inexperienced people (families) who just don’t understand what pianos really should sound like or how the key actions should really feel or respond and they will unknowingly say they are happy with their purchase…and that is OK (I suppose)…for them. But I would never recommend these pianos to any of my students, family, friends, or even people who aren’t friends:) The negative reviews that I have cited here do, in my opinion (for the most part), accurately describe how these Adagio pianos play and sound. Perhaps one day in the future the Adagio brand of pianos will be improved enough to be a worthwhile consideration, but not for now.