PHOTOS OF REAR PANEL  SHOW  ALL CABLES /JACKS PLUGGED IN TO VISUALLY ADDRESS ALL INPUTS & OUTPUTS, (BOTH BALANCED (1/4" PHONE PLUGS) AND UN-BALANCED (LT & RT RCA) JACKS WOULD NOT BE USED SIMULTANIOUSLY  AT ANY TIME DURING NORMAL OPERATION). A FULLY LABLED "HALF POWER" BACK PANEL IS AVAILABLE AND WILL FIT IF LABELING IS PREFERRED ON REAR PANEL? EXISTING BLANK (HAND LABLED BY BONGIORNO) PANEL IS THE ORIGINAL. 

           ITEM DESCRIPTION: Not to be mistaken for the standard production "Model Nine", This beast is in a class all by itself ! This SUPERIOR FLAGSHIP DESIGN is THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF THE CLASS A SUMO "MODEL NINE" EVER PRODUCED IN IT'S UN-MOLESTED FORM AS IT WAS INTENDED!. DESIGNED , HAND BUILT AND FROM THE PERSONAL AUDIO COLLECTION OF  LEGENDARY AUDIO DESIGNER ,THE LATE JAMES BONGIORNO! In addition to his numerous innovative design contributions to high end audio and the music industry in general releasing several titles as an accomplished JAZZ PIANIST (available on CD BABY or here at AudioPartsPlus while supplies last), JAMES BONGIORNO was also Founder, Chief Designer and CEO of The Great American Sound Co.(G.A.S.), SUMO Electric and his most recent venture Spread Spectrum Technologies (S.S.T.) all of which are known for manufacturing several innovative AWARD WINNING high end products which remain highly sought after by audiophiles and/or collectors today and in recent years have shown a steady increase in value on the used audio market often fetching prices far exceeding original retail prices. James had also designed, co-designed and/or consulted on several other successful product designs for Dynaco (St-400, AF6 tuner etc..), SAE, Marantz (Model 15 etc..), Hadley Labs., H/K, Theta, Crown, Lexicon, PS Audio, VMPS and several others however  he was probably known best as THE CREATOR OF THE AMPZILLA line of amplifiers originally released as a DIY project kit in Popular Electronics Magazine. Ampzilla's popularity eventually led to James leaving SAE and founding The Great American Sound Co. and Ampzilla was then released under the GAS label and decade later following a few tweaks to its design, Ampzilla was re-born under his Spread Spectrum Technologies  label as the AMPZILLA 2000 series mono-block amplifiers and Son of Ampzilla 2000 stereo amplifier (which I currently own and use on a daily basis with complete satisfaction). His S.S.T. line includes several highly regarded award winning products including his last hands on personal creation prior to his passing THE TRINURAL PROCESSOR which earned him The 2003 BEST OF C.E.S. HIGH END AUDIO AWARD (see pics) and his AMPZILLA 2000 amplifier was presented The HI-FI Review " Product Of The Year 2003 Award" as well as several other highly respected reviews etc.. (More on James at his AMPZILLA2000 website). James Bongiorno himself named this amplifier as the Gold Series "Super Nine" and this incredible amp remained in his personal collection up until his passing on 1/10/2013. This very amp has been praised upon by a number of well known audio designers & reviewers (whos names I choose not to mention without their permission), One highly respected designer/reviewer verbally gave me his personal opinion of this amp which would only give his highest compliments following a lengthy demo period in his personal home audio setup. Although in contrary to this listing, he also stated "You might want to hang onto this one because you will never find another like it!". The same individual is also credited for the identification of this amp as well as other extremely rare and/or one of a kind (unmarked/unlabeled) equipment designs included in Bongiorno's inventory/collection (including a dual mono monster of an amplifier which was identified as the original prototype for the Ampzilla 2000 monoblocks.) Researching such rare items was proving to be nearly impossible as there is little or no info. available online so his contribution of information on these items I consider to be priceless and a much appreciated to say the least. This original SUMO "MODEL NINE" design was radically revised before going into production in order to lower production costs at the expense of some additional performance which was lost in the production "Model Nine" design. This very amplifier is pictured on the cover of and featured inside of the original "Welcome To The World Of Sumo" brochures (alongside the "Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award", see pics) before they too were revised to feature the production "Model Nine". This original design is nearly identical to its bigger brother "The Gold" ,The significant difference besides being housed in an  All MONOCOQUE CONSTRUCTED CHASSIS similar to the SUMO "Half Power" but featuring a vented gold anodized front panel (which has no resemblance to the production model Nine pictured above this amp in attached photos with the Gold just below in the same photo) , is the output power rating of 75wpc @ 8ohms vs. 125wpc of which the Gold is rated. This amplifier possesses the same MASSIVE 4000 WATT TRANSFORMER (Bongiorno designed, Weighs 42lbs. by itself) as both its bigger brothers "The Power"(400wpc Class A/B, also available from AudioPartsPlus) and "The Gold"(125wpc Class A, currently sold out), This superior transformer design was excluded from the revised production Model Nine which made a significant reduction in load capability and overall performance. The advantage this amplifier has over its bigger brothers the "Power" and "Gold" amplifiers is that the amplifier itself demands less power to run therefore leaves more power reserve for the output stages which increases the load capability significantly, THIS AMPLIFIER POSESSES A GREATER LOAD CAPABILITY THAN ANY OTHER AMPLIFIER EVER PRODUCED BY SUMO and is said to be THE FINEST AMPLIFIER DESIGN TO EVER BEAR THE SUMO BADGE.This incredible amplifier is PURE CLASS A FROM INPUT TO OUTPUT, fully balanced and is VERY CONSERVATIVELY rated at 75wpc @ 8ohms, 120wpc @ 4 ohms, 200wpc @ 2ohms etc..IT REMAINS STABLE AT ANY LOAD. This fully discrete CLASS A topology design has NO BIAS NETWORKS OF ANY KIND, NO THERMAL NETWORKS OF ANY KIND NOR ANY ACTIVE SENSING CIRCUITS OF ANY KIND! Bias is achieved through a totally passive means which banishes thermal runaway forever. In fact the circuits are so stable and so linear that the open loop distortion without feedback is less than .05% at any frequency (20hz to 20khz) and at any power level up to clipping. Due to thermal considerations, the Class A output stage has an idle dissipation of 225 watts per channel which maintains full Class A power into a load of 5.5 ohms which represents a close approximation to the MG-II Magneplanar--Rated at 6 ohms. It also features lt+rt balanced (600 ohm) phone jacks and lt+rt unbalanced (HI-Z unbalanced to balanced converter stage)) RCA inputs ,Flush mounted banana speaker jacks, Unique quadrature feedback operation. It has NO lettering or numbering whatsoever other than the SUMO logo on faceplate, All ins and outs arel hand labled by James Bongiorno Himself (I do have a "Half Power" amplifier backplate  available that fits and is fully labled but in my opinion would take away from the original hand built one of a kind appearance of this amplifier in its original form). This is a BEYOND RARE HIGH PERFORMANCE AMPLIFIER that is not only useable on a daily basis, but would also be considered a prize addition and significant conversation piece to any Audiophile's Collection and more importantly one that no other collector could possibly own since this is THE ONLY ONE OF IT'S KIND ON THE PLANET! Don't miss this rare opertunity to own the very same amplifier that its previous owner, Chief Designer and CEO of SUMO Electric the late JAMES BONGIORNO favored the most out of his entire collection up until his passing. This innovative design also earned Bongiorno one of his ABSOLUTE SOUND GOLDEN EAR AWARDS along with an addition to his 20+ US Patents he had acquired throughout his career. This amplifier was fully tested by a SUMO/GAS/SST tech. just prior to James passing away and was found to be in perfect working order however  due to its age ,all of the electrolytic capacitors were replaced and the interior was thoroughly cleaned and new intake filters were installed. The original "Boxer Fan " was replaced with a NOS identical replacement in black for improved cosmetic purposes. (see pics) In order to stay close to its original form, many of the capacitors were replaced using NOS exact replacements which were stored in sealed packaging and tested prior to installation . Since being serviced the amplifier has been "burned in" for several days of consecutive use without any problems and sounds fantastic.   In theory, IF keeping the amplifier as close to its original form is not of importance to you, the ultimate performance capabilities of this amplifier MAY have yet to be realized by the replacement of caps or other internal parts which are said to have significantly improved in recent years? Although the amplifier is incredible as it is now, a spare no expense modernization/rebuild using the best premium quality parts the industry has to offer might unleash its "actual" full potential which may have not been possible at the time of its creation? 

            Temporarily installed in place of my SST Son of Ampzilla 2000 amplifier in my own setup and used daily it had performed incredibly well and absolutely problem free. It faithfully produced nothing but distortion free crystal clear highs and extremely dynamic and bottomless low end. I was in no hurry to remove it from my system and in fact I have strongly considered taking it off the market which currently remains a strong possibility? Unfortunately I don't really have the extra space due to already possessing way too much equipment to realistically justify its necessity nor the prevention of giving others an opportunity to enjoy it by keeping it hidden away? Due to the high risk of operator (installer) error when dealing with vintage or any other electronic equipment I am selling "as is" but fully tested prior to packaging to be in working order as it should be.  I do however remain confident this amplifier will maintain its performance capability for years to come and remain a strong contender or even exceed much of whats available in todays high end market ESPECIALLY in the under $10,000 price range? I feel without a doubt this amp to be well worth the asking price and everyone that has had the chance to hear it has expressed the same. It appears that James Bongiorno definitely got this one right!. It's a shame to have changed a thing before going into production. Priced slightly above average market value of the standard Production "Model Nine" due to its one of a kind hand made significance but even more so for it's overall improved sonic ability far exceeding that of the production Model Nine. HOWEVER REASONABLE OFFERS MAY BE CONSIDERED? This is an extremely rare opportunity to own a significant part of audio history that is expected to only rise in value with age!  It will be carefully packaged and double boxed using original SUMO foam corner inserts between boxes, An original copy of what was to be the owners manual and also an original copy of the "Welcome to The World of SUMO" brochure which thoroughly explains the operation if this amp in great detail. Schematics of the class A topology will also be included. More info and/or pics available upon request on this or any of the other rare items I have available from Bongiorno's collection.

      Thank you for your interest and taking the time to read this lengthy description necessary to only start to describe an amplifier of this significant nature. The production "Model Nine" had still become one of SUMO's most successful amplifiers and has become the model favored by many of its owners and remains in high demand on the used market, however, its quite a shame it never went into production in this superior un-revised form which I can only imagine would have resulted in an even greater success? The decision to revise the "Model Nine" to lower production costs did not sit well with Bongiorno however the company was in process of changing hands and the final decision was made by its new owners. Bongiorno's departure was a significant turning point for the company and its future designs. This is one kick ass one of a kind class A and I am in no hurry to see it go at any price!