Lafayette KT-500 (1958)
The Lafayette KT-500 is a stereo tuner kit from 1958. Period coverage is brief. The kit report in Audiocraft (July 1958, p.22) described it as effectively two tuners in one, handling conventional FM and AM as well as the new stereophonic radio broadcasts. It also noted that the tuner section came pre-aligned, which made the build approachable for kit builders of the day. Lafayette's own advertising in Audiocraft (June 1958, p.50) and Hi-Fi-Music-at-Home (June 1958, p.69) made the same pitch. The ads billed the KT-500 as the most flexible tuner Lafayette had designed and highlighted a multiplex output for the then-new stereo FM broadcasts. HiFI-Stereo (June 1958, p.69) listed the KT-500 in kit form at roughly $74.50. The page's OCR is imperfect, but that is the figure it appears to show.
Beyond those mid-1958 sightings, the record is thin. No schematic, no measured performance figures, no confirmed production run and no later revisions have turned up in the usual archives. The "KT" prefix placed it in Lafayette's kit line, which continued with the KT-550, a 100-watt basic stereo amplifier kit advertised in Audio (December 1960, p.96) at $134.50 in kit form or $184.50 wired. That is useful context, but not a KT-500 specification. If you own a KT-500, have a manual, or have seen one in a period catalog, the Archive would welcome the details.
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