Description
Experience the commanding Kawai K500 at Cambridge Pianoforte’s showroom – where over 50 years of expertise meets Kawai’s professional-grade piano engineering. As one of the UK’s longest-serving Kawai agents, we’re proud to keep this exceptional instrument in stock for you to play and compare.
Professional Power and Projection
At 130cm tall, the Kawai K500 belongs to the elite category of school pianos – instruments specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of educational institutions, conservatoires, and professional teaching studios. Its strong, solid construction and large solid spruce soundboard produce an exceptionally powerful and warm tone capable of filling teaching rooms, recital spaces, and practice studios with rich, commanding sound.
The K500’s well-designed scale offers a rare combination of power, dynamic range, and tonal richness that meets the musical demands of any studio environment. This is an instrument built not just to be played, but to be played intensively – day after day, student after student, repertoire after repertoire – whilst maintaining its exceptional tonal and mechanical characteristics.
The Millennium III Action with Extended Keys
At the heart of the K500 lies Kawai’s groundbreaking Millennium III action – the same revolutionary technology that has redefined professional upright piano performance. Featuring components made from ABS-Carbon (an advanced composite created by infusing carbon fibre into Kawai’s renowned ABS Styran), this action is incredibly sturdy and rigid, allowing the creation of parts that are lighter without sacrificing strength.
The result? A stronger, faster action that offers more power, better control, and greater stability than conventional all-wood actions – essential qualities for an instrument that must respond equally well to Grade 1 scales and advanced diploma repertoire.
Extended Key Length for Superior Control
The K500 features extended key length throughout the keyboard, making playing easier and providing more even response from the front to the back of the playing surface. Longer keys give you greater control and more power with less effort – a significant advantage during extended practice sessions or when teaching, allowing for more nuanced dynamic control and reduced physical fatigue.
This thoughtful design is particularly beneficial for pianists tackling technically demanding repertoire, where precise control across the entire dynamic range is essential.
Precision Die-Cast Aluminium Action Brackets
Three die-cast aluminium action brackets, formed from custom moulds to ensure exact uniformity, provide exceptional strength and stability. These brackets maintain accurate touch and consistent regulation over years of intensive use – crucial for an instrument designed to withstand the rigours of professional teaching environments or ambitious home practice schedules.
The action features mahogany hammer cores – lightweight and extremely responsive, found only on the finest pianos. Each hammer is T-stapled to preserve its shape and fitted with an added interior layer of underfelt to support exceptional tone creation, ensuring consistent touch and tonal response across all 88 keys.
NEOTEX Key Surfaces:
The K500 features Kawai’s exclusive NEOTEX key surface material – a technical refinement familiar from Kawai’s grand piano range. Made with cellulose fibre, NEOTEX offers the smooth, understated texture of natural ivory and ebony, with a semi-porous, silica-filled surface that absorbs the hand’s natural oils and perspiration to prevent slipping.
This sophisticated material resists cracking and fading over years of intensive use and is applied to both the sharps and naturals for a consistent feel across the entire keyboard. For pianists who spend hours at the keyboard daily, or teachers demonstrating technique throughout long teaching days, NEOTEX provides the secure, comfortable playing surface that professionals demand.
Engineered for Exceptional Tone
The Large Tapered Soundboard: Power and Warmth
The soundboard is the heart of any piano, transforming string vibrations into rich, resounding tone. Kawai uses only straight-grained, quarter-sawn solid spruce for K500 soundboards – each strategically tapered to maximise tone-producing capability. Only soundboards meeting or exceeding Kawai’s demanding quality standards are selected for use in their professional upright pianos.
At 130cm tall, the -500’s large soundboard and extended string lengths produce an exceptionally powerful and warm tone with remarkable projection. The soundboard is carefully tapered from bass to treble range, optimising resonance across the entire sound spectrum – ensuring singing clarity in the treble, warmth and presence in the midrange, and depth and power in the bass registers.
Duplex Scaling: Enhanced Tonal Richness
The Kawai K500 incorporates duplex scaling – a sophisticated acoustic enhancement where the non-speaking lengths of strings (those segments beyond the speaking length) are carefully tuned to vibrate sympathetically with the main string vibrations. This creates additional harmonic overtones that enrich the instrument’s tonal complexity and colour, adding brilliance and depth to the overall sound.
Combined with a robust cast iron frame that provides optimal string tension and tuning stability, the K500 delivers the tonal richness and harmonic complexity required for serious repertoire study and professional teaching.
Built for Strength and Longevity
Professional-Grade Construction
The K500’s construction reflects its intended use in demanding professional environments. The steel-reinforced keyslip prevents warping or bending with changes in humidity, ensuring keys move freely with virtually no possibility of rubbing or sticking – essential reliability when the instrument must perform consistently day after day.
The piano’s keybed is constructed from sturdy laminated hardwoods and reinforced by rear braces on the cast iron frame. This robust foundation supports the action assembly and maintains precise regulation over years of intensive use, whilst preventing energy loss through enhanced rigidity.
The K500’s strong, solid construction ensures it will maintain its exceptional performance characteristics throughout decades of professional use – making it not just an instrument, but a long-term investment in musical excellence.
The Professional’s Instrument
The K500’s exceptional specifications and robust construction make it the ideal instrument for:
- Ambitious pianists working at advanced diploma level and beyond
- Professional teachers requiring an instrument capable of withstanding intensive daily use
- Music schools and conservatoires demanding superior tonal projection and reliability
- Accompanists needing an instrument with commanding presence and dynamic range
- Studio musicians seeking professional-quality upright piano performance
- Serious home pianists who demand the very best from their instrument
This is an instrument designed for those who take their music seriously – capable of meeting the demands of advanced repertoire, intensive practice schedules, and professional performance whilst providing the tonal refinement and dynamic range that experienced musicians expect.
Upgrade to Silent Technology
The K500 is also available with Kawai’s ATX4 Silent System factory-fitted – transforming this powerful acoustic piano into a versatile instrument that can be practised silently through headphones. The ATX4 system captures the true touch and response of the Millennium III action with NEOTEX key surfaces, whilst offering the convenience of silent practice – perfect for professionals who need to practise at unsociable hours without compromising on touch quality.
Ask our team about the K500 ATX4 model when you visit.
The Cambridge Pianoforte Difference
When you choose to purchase your Kawai K500 from Cambridge Pianoforte, you’re not simply buying a piano – you’re beginning a relationship with Cambridge’s most established piano specialists. As an independent, family-run business celebrating over 50 years of service, we bring unparalleled expertise to every aspect of your piano ownership.
Our comprehensive service includes:
- Expert delivery and installation by our trained technicians at a time convenient for you (see Delivery tab for full details)
- Complimentary tuning package with your new piano purchase, ensuring your instrument maintains its optimal voice
- Ongoing support from technicians trained at Steinway’s Hamburg facility – the same expertise trusted by Cambridge’s most prestigious institutions including Trinity College, King’s College, and Cambridge Corn Exchange
- Specialist regulation and voicing services to maintain your K500’s professional performance standards
- Technical consultation for studio and institutional installations
- Showroom experience where you can play and compare instruments in a relaxed, pressure-free environment
Visit our Cambridge showroom to experience the Kawai K500’s commanding presence for yourself, or call us to discuss how this professional instrument could transform your teaching studio or practice space.
Please refer to the Specification tab for detailed dimensions and weight information. Full delivery information, returns policy, and terms and conditions are available in their respective tabs.
Ready to experience professional-grade performance? Call Cambridge Pianoforte or visit our showroom – we’re here to help.
