SPT SD-6501WA vs Kenmore Elite: Same Box, 13 dB Apart

Two 24-inch built-ins with the same exterior volume to within a third of a percent. The Kenmore Elite states 13 dB less noise, one more place setting and a tiered warranty; the SPT sits one price band lower.

The two listings at a glance

These are two standard 24-inch built-in dishwashers with the same exterior volume to within a third of a percent. One sits in the $200–500 price band and the other in the band above it, and what the listings attach to that step is narrower than the price gap suggests: a lower stated noise, a longer warranty and a few features. The table prints only figures that our review tables and Amazon’s detail pages agree on, apart from the rows marked as one source.

The box is the same, so the difference is what is inside it

The SPT is 24 × 24 × 34 in and the Kenmore 23.55 × 24.61 × 33.88 in. Their exterior volumes are 320.9 and 321.8 litres, and the class median for built-ins is 321.8. Both are exactly the standard 24-inch built-in envelope. The Kenmore states one more place setting, 15 against 14, so dividing the box by the capacity it claims gives 22.9 litres per place setting for the SPT and 21.5 for the Kenmore: about 6 percent less box per place setting. That is a small difference, and it depends on both capacity claims being measured the same way, which listings rarely guarantee. It is still a cleaner comparison than placing the two side by side and reading the marketing.

The SPT is the heavier machine by 9 pounds, 99 against 90. Neither listing says enough for us to explain the difference, so we report it and leave the explanation open.

Noise: 13 dB between them

The SPT states 55 dB and the Kenmore 42 dBA, and both sources agree on both. A 13 dB gap is about 20 times the sound power and, by the rule of thumb that 10 dB sounds about twice as loud, roughly 2.5 times the loudness. Note the unit: the Kenmore’s figure is A-weighted, which is the conventional way to state appliance noise; the SPT’s listing gives only “dB”, so the comparison is approximate.

The SPT is in the loud end of the built-in class and the Kenmore in the quiet tail. For a dishwasher in an open-plan kitchen that is the figure that matters most; for one in a closed utility space it matters much less. Neither listing gives the cycle or the measurement conditions, so as elsewhere, treat these as claims.

Reading the two warranties

The SPT’s listing gives one year from the manufacturer. The Kenmore’s runs to four tiers: lifetime cover on the stainless-steel tub and inner door panel, five years on the upper and lower racks, two years on parts, and one year on the appliance as a whole. The tiering says where the maker expects failures to be expensive: the tub and the inner door are the parts you cannot cheaply replace, and the listing covers them longest. It does not say what lifetime means, whose lifetime it is, whether labour is included, or what voids it, and we have not seen the warranty document itself. A longer warranty is a statement about the maker’s confidence, and it changes nothing about how loud or how clean the machine is.

Fitting it in

Both are sold as standard 24-inch built-ins. The SPT’s listing gives a rounded 24 × 24 × 34 in; the Kenmore’s gives 23.55 × 24.61 × 33.88 in, which makes it 0.45 inch narrower and 0.61 inch deeper than the SPT’s rounded figures. Neither difference matters in most kitchens, since a standard cabinet opening is 24 inches wide and dishwashers are built to slide into it, but the extra depth is worth knowing if yours sits flush with the front of a countertop edge or a run of cabinet doors. Both need the usual water supply, drain and electrical connections, and both list a voltage in the ordinary US range, 120 volts for the SPT and 115 for the Kenmore.

What the higher price band attaches

Reading the two listings side by side, the step up from the SPT to the Kenmore brings four things, each as a claim and none as a tested result. The first is the lower stated noise. The second is the warranty: the SPT gives one year, and the Kenmore’s listing breaks its cover into tiers, lifetime on the stainless-steel tub and inner door panel, five years on the racks, two years on parts and one year on the appliance. The third is a set of cleaning features the SPT does not list: three pressurised spray arms, soil sensors that adjust temperature, pressure and cycle time, and a removable third rack that the listing says adds 35 percent more space for utensils. The fourth is leak protection.

What the SPT lists that the Kenmore does not is narrower: a delay start of one to 24 hours, a rinse-aid warning indicator and fault-code display, and an annual energy figure in our review (249 kWh, or 17.8 kWh per place setting). The Kenmore is ENERGY STAR certified too, but neither source gives a kilowatt-hour figure for it, so its energy use cannot be compared with the SPT’s from what we have.

Which suits which

What this comparison cannot tell you

Nothing here is tested. A warranty is a promise on paper, and we have not assessed how either maker honours one. The Kenmore’s third-rack claim is the manufacturer’s, and so are the soil sensors. We also cannot say whether 15 place settings in the Kenmore and 14 in the SPT are measured to the same standard. For each machine on its own, see our SPT SD-6501WA review and our Kenmore Elite review; for how the whole class looks, see the built-in class report.

Figures are the manufacturers’, as published on each listing and quoted in our reviews; none was measured by us. How we work · Affiliate disclosure