Enjoying My Nines
- Thread starter SoCal Sam
- Start date
jerrycpor
Active Member
You spy correctly; They're simple 4" center to center wire drawer pulls with protective fiber washers on both sides of the rack mount ears. They are a bit on the thin side for my liking, but they do help when it becomes necessary to muscle these beasts around.
The ones that I think would look great on L-09Ms, are the Emtek 86325 in flat black, but at close to $50 for a set of four I just haven't justified it in my mind....yet.
The ones that I think would look great on L-09Ms, are the Emtek 86325 in flat black, but at close to $50 for a set of four I just haven't justified it in my mind....yet.
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
Not lately. Getting hard to find.
I was looking at my serial numbers which are:
8101xx
8101xx
6401xx
6400xx
8100xx
8101xx
7600xx
7600xx
Can't make sense of them. The first digit implies three production runs. By all accounts, Nines were not big sellers. They were too big and too powerful when they came out which was just when the Monster Receiver era was coming to an end.
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
I like your black better than the optional Kenwood handles which were satin silver and looked a lot like KA-907 handles.
Jota2
Active Member
No.
Jota2
Active Member
Mine are 7600XX. Got them about seven years ago. Found them in Arizona. I believe the seller found them at goodwill. Love them. Would like another back up pair but haven't found any yet found a beat up one on Craigslist in Dallas a few months ago and should have bought it. They power the B&W 804s quite nicely. Being L-09 owners is odd they are so good but few believe you because they have never heard them and likely never will.
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
I think the rarity is because of bad timing and not quite right cosmetics. By 1980, the big bad receiver era was mostly over so 50 pound monoblocks would have been a tough sell. I also think Kenwood's cosmetics were a mistake. NAD had staked out the budget sector with gray faceplates and black knobs, which screamed budget like no other. The L-09M wasn't cheaply engineered so the choice of colors sent the wrong message. Kenwood would correct this gaff with the II series but sadly the L-09M was not carried over. The L-09M should have had been black with white meters like the L-07TII from the beginning. L's in satin silver and handles ala the KA-907 / KT-917 would have been gorgeous...and made the Nines far more valuable today.
I love the basic purposeful look of the L-09Ms, and I wonder if they look the way they do because they were part of the Laboratory series of gear. IMO they definitely have that lab gear look to them, and maybe that's what the designers were going for and not cheaping out.
Diesel66
Active Member
Nice TZ9’s or 7’s?
Cheers
