CA 501

The CA501 features a modern, elegant cabinet design and is available in three premium finishes to match your home: Premium Rosewood, Premium Satin Black, and Premium Satin White.

Yes. The music rest angle can be adjusted to multiple positions to suit your playing height, just like on a concert grand, and it can also be laid completely flat. Newly designed music holder pins are integrated to prevent your sheet music pages from slipping.

Yes. The CA501 features a built-in, sliding key cover that elegantly glides out to protect the wooden keys, the music stand pins, and the control panel from dust and sunlight when the instrument is not in use.

When you purchase the CA501, the box includes:

• The CA501 Digital Piano (with integrated Grand Feel Pedal System)
• The adjustable music rest (with integrated sheet holder pins)
• The power adapter (PS-242) and power cord
• The owner's manual and setup instructions

The Grand Feel Compact action uses full-length wooden keys with a seesaw mechanism – just like an acoustic grand. Ivory Touch key surfaces, graded hammer weighting, counterweights in the bass register, and a triple-sensor system ensure precise control, natural repetition, and authentic escapement (let-off) feel across all 88 keys.

The Grand Feel Pedal System replicates the exact pedal resistance of our premier Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand across all three pedals – sustain (with half-pedal support), soft, and sostenuto. The physical positioning of the pedals has also been ergonomically optimized to match an acoustic grand.

The CA501 features meticulously recorded, 88-key samples of our finest acoustic instruments, powered by our premium Harmonic Imaging XL (HI-XL) sound engine:

• Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Competition Grand: Captured from the player's perspective, offering brilliant clarity, a strong attack, and incredible dynamic range.
• Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Classic: Captured from the audience's perspective for a warmer, more blended concert-hall tone.
• Shigeru Kawai SK-5 Chamber Grand: Celebrated for its intimate, expressive tonal character.
• Kawai EX Concert Grand: The legendary stage instrument known for its powerful, bright tone.

Our Spatial Headphone Sound (SHS) technology adds physical spatial depth and three-dimensional realism to the piano sound through headphones. It creates a natural, open acoustic experience, significantly reducing listening fatigue during longer private practice sessions. You can even optimize the sound profile for open, semi-open, closed, or in-ear headphones.

Yes, easily via Bluetooth® MIDI (Ver. 5.0) and high-fidelity Bluetooth® Audio (Ver. 5.1). Bluetooth MIDI enables wireless communication with learning and control apps like Kawai's PianoRemote or PiaBookPlayer. Bluetooth Audio lets you stream songs or backing tracks directly from your device through the CA501's powerful 100W (2 x 50W) speaker system to play along wire-free.

Yes. The built-in lesson function includes a library of typical learning études by Czerny, Burgmüller, and Beyer, as well as the renowned Alfred Piano courses. Each piece can be played at a variable tempo, with the left or right hand played individually for focused practice. A Four-Hands mode also splits the keyboard so teacher and student can play simultaneously at the same octave register.

Yes, you have two options:

• Internal Recorder: Stores up to 3 songs with a maximum capacity of approximately 10,000 notes directly in the piano's memory.
• USB Audio Recorder (exclusive to the CA501): By plugging in a USB flash drive, you can record your play directly as high-quality MP3 or WAV audio files to share with friends, listen on your phone, or burn to a CD.

A highly readable, wide 128 x 64 pixel OLED display and a redesigned control panel on the cheekblock give you easy, direct access to all functions – no confusing keyboard shortcuts required. For ultimate comfort, you can also manage all settings wirelessly from anywhere in the room using the free Kawai PianoRemote app on your smartphone or tablet.

The CA501 is equipped with a professional, fully-featured connection panel that offers much more flexibility than the CA401:

• Dual Headphone Jacks: 1x 1/4" (6.3mm) stereo jack and 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo mini-jack for silent practicing together.
• Stereo Line Out (L/MONO, R): Connects easily to external amplifiers, mixers, or PA systems.
• Stereo Line In: Connects external devices like laptops directly to play audio through the piano's 100W speakers.
• USB to Host: Connects to computers or tablets for MIDI production.
• USB to Device: Allows you to plug in a USB flash drive to save recordings or play back MP3/WAV files.

No. Unlike an acoustic piano, the CA501 is 100% digital and never needs to be tuned. It is completely unaffected by seasonal humidity or temperature changes, meaning it will sound perfect and perform reliably year after year with zero maintenance costs.

Kawai is renowned for its exceptional reliability. The CA501 is built with our finest components and is backed by our comprehensive 5-year manufacturer's warranty (subject to regional registration) to ensure complete, long-term peace of mind.

While both models feature the same Grand Feel Compact wooden action, the CA501 is a significant performance and features upgrade:

• Acoustic Power: The CA501 has a much more powerful 100W (2 x 50W) 4-speaker system with 360° diffusers, whereas the CA401 has a standard 40W system without diffusers.
• Engine Depth: The CA501 uses Harmonic Imaging XL (45 sounds, 256-note polyphony), while the CA401 uses Progressive Harmonic Imaging (19 sounds, 192-note polyphony).
• USB Recording: Only the CA501 features a USB-to-Device port to record your playing directly to a USB stick as high-quality MP3 or WAV audio files (the CA401 only has an internal MIDI recorder).
• Registration Memories: The CA501 features 16 physical memory slots (Registrations) to save your favorite custom sound combinations directly on the piano. The CA401 has no built-in registration memory slots.
• Professional Connections: The CA501 features dedicated Stereo Line-In and Line-Out jacks for external systems. The CA401 does not have Line jacks.
• Bluetooth Experience: While both models feature Bluetooth Audio and MIDI, streaming music on the CA501 is a vastly superior acoustic experience thanks to its premium 100W 4-speaker layout and 360° diffusers.

You should upgrade to the CA701 if you are an advanced player seeking a professional-grade instrument:

• The Action: The CA701 features the flagship Grand Feel III action, which has longer, full-length wooden keys (matching the pivot length of a Shigeru Kawai grand) for superior leverage and control deep in the keys.
• The Sound: It utilizes the premier SK-EX Rendering engine, which combines multi-channel acoustic sampling with real-time physical resonance modeling.
• The Screen: The CA701 features a built-in 5" color touchscreen that can "fade to black" to keep your performance distraction-free.

The CA901 is the absolute peak of the series, designed for those who want zero compromises:

• TwinDrive Wood Soundboard: It features a real physical wooden soundboard on the back of the cabinet driven by transducers, vibrating the cabinet so you physically feel the low-end acoustic rumble.
• Upright Design: It is housed in a classic, towering upright piano cabinet with a slow-fall key fallboard, offering the ultimate visual and physical grand piano presence.