So I'm on a mission, to find out what the differences are between these units. I've never owned a 7909 (have other Alpines 7390, 7618, 7949), but recently had a little extra spending cash, and decided to acquire a couple 09's to try to answer some questions that I have not been able to definitively find answers for. First of all, these are the four 7909's model variations I'm aware of,, if anyone knows of additional models please share:
7909 (pull out, 1989 original)
7909L (I believe this was for the European market)
7909J (Japanese market)
7909 Anniversary (came out in 1997 ?)
Now it appears to me that there were two runs of 7909, one in 1989 through maybe 1991 which would include the pull out model and the 7909L. The second run happened around 1997, at least for the 30th models. Now the model I'm not sure about is the 7909J, it appears that model is physically similar to the 30th Anniversary model. I'm curious though if there was more than one version of the 7909J, and if Alpine Japan sold the 7909J continuously from the early eighty's to whenever they stopped making the 7909, I'm guessing 1997 .
I have 7909 pull out on its way to me, and also a 7909J. My plan is to disassemble both decks and have a thorough comparison on a component level, to see how the two decks differ . My other intention is to figure out, and attempt to convert the 7909J to US radio frequencies. Finally, I plan on changing all the electrolytic capacitors on these decks myself to the ELNA Silmic II . I'm not a electronics repair guru, but have experience reworking electronic components so I think the capacitor replacement should be doable . If the decks have other issues, most likely I will send them out to get serviced by either S&S Electronics or a person in Las Vegas who I’ve had good service from on other repairs.
So far, the only manual I’ve been able to find is the pdf version of the 7909L manual, PAC Parts shows the manual as being discontinued, and I’m not sure which version they offered anyway. If anyone has one of the other manuals, I would be more than thankful (and would not mind providing some compensation) for a copy for any of the 7909’s other than the 7909L version. Also if anyone has additional advice, thoughts, suggestions, or anything particular you would like me to look at when I go through these unit’s please let me know. I plan on taking pictures , and updating this thread as I go.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Chris
7909 (pull out, 1989 original)
7909L (I believe this was for the European market)
7909J (Japanese market)
7909 Anniversary (came out in 1997 ?)
Now it appears to me that there were two runs of 7909, one in 1989 through maybe 1991 which would include the pull out model and the 7909L. The second run happened around 1997, at least for the 30th models. Now the model I'm not sure about is the 7909J, it appears that model is physically similar to the 30th Anniversary model. I'm curious though if there was more than one version of the 7909J, and if Alpine Japan sold the 7909J continuously from the early eighty's to whenever they stopped making the 7909, I'm guessing 1997 .
I have 7909 pull out on its way to me, and also a 7909J. My plan is to disassemble both decks and have a thorough comparison on a component level, to see how the two decks differ . My other intention is to figure out, and attempt to convert the 7909J to US radio frequencies. Finally, I plan on changing all the electrolytic capacitors on these decks myself to the ELNA Silmic II . I'm not a electronics repair guru, but have experience reworking electronic components so I think the capacitor replacement should be doable . If the decks have other issues, most likely I will send them out to get serviced by either S&S Electronics or a person in Las Vegas who I’ve had good service from on other repairs.
So far, the only manual I’ve been able to find is the pdf version of the 7909L manual, PAC Parts shows the manual as being discontinued, and I’m not sure which version they offered anyway. If anyone has one of the other manuals, I would be more than thankful (and would not mind providing some compensation) for a copy for any of the 7909’s other than the 7909L version. Also if anyone has additional advice, thoughts, suggestions, or anything particular you would like me to look at when I go through these unit’s please let me know. I plan on taking pictures , and updating this thread as I go.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Chris
