kitchenaid mixer-600 series

i just bought a 600 series kitchenaid mixer (thats the 6 qt. bowl and 575 watts of power) to replace my kitchenaid mixer with a 5 qt. bowl and only 300 watts of power. the first time i used it, i thought it was defective. the high pitched noise it made as it slowly revved up from a standstill to just the middle speed was so painful to my ears that i called kitchenaids customer service line and held the phone to the noise so the woman i spoke to could hear the mixer. unfortunately for me, she said that sound was normal and related to the fan in the higher wattage machines. if this is true, i have to decide whether to keep it because i really find the sound torturous. the only reason i'm questioning her is that when i run the mixer with the beater attached but no bowl, the sound is what i consider normal. i would have expected the motor to sound the same whether using the bowl or not. does anyone have this machine? does yours get higher in pitch as its speed is increased?? its incomprehensible to me that this thing even got off the drawing board with this much noise. thanks, justjoan

I got this as a present and really dislike it. I much preferred my old 4 qt. KA. However, I haven't had the experience you're describing. It does seem a bit louder than the smaller machine though.

On another board in which I participate, KA customer service was the object of some scathing criticism. Sorry, but it sounds like you have 2 problems.

Bill/SFNM

rickster: WHY do you dislike your mixer, if its not because of the loud noise it makes? how is it different from your old mixer? justjoan

I have the same model, and I haven't noticed noise to the degree that you describe. There is a slight high-pitched sound that gets a little higher with speed, but not loud, and no more than reasonable expectation. I've had mine for two years, and spent all winter using it for heavy things like bread doughs (not insubstantial - three loaves of limpa at once would likely not have been tolerated by a smaller machine), and haven't had a problem.

Odd that it doesn't happen until you attach the bowl. I can't figure out an explanation for that one.

One thing about KitchenAid - about 6 years ago, the glass on my aunt's new KitchenAid oven exploded all over her kitchen while preheating (luckily no one was hurt). When she called KitchenAid, the rep said, "That's funny, usually when that happens..." Um, usually?

The new one is noisier, bulkier (doesn't fit easily under my cabinets) and I find it more awkward to use - I can't explain exactly why, except I preferred the tilt head to the lift mechanism. Also, I preferred the narrower bowl of the smaller model. I don't need the larger capacity or the power except it makes bread mixing easier - the dough used to creep up the dough hook on the smaller model- but I rarely make bread.