Kenwood L-02 tuner actually a unicorn

I was in Roswell once, saw a stack of 'em in a corner of a warehouse behind a really large cylindrical ship of some sort. I asked about the L-02's but the very small "people" didn't speak english (they were groovin' to an all-tube system blasting out Talking Heads tunes though).

Interesting that you mention Roswell, because I know the story behind this tuner.

My brother was a USAF officer in the 60's, assigned to military intelligence. He was assigned to a project in New Mexico, unrelated to any "UFO" type work.

One evening however, as he was dining in the mess hall, he struck up a conversation with another officer- a longtime officer at Area 51. They both discovered that they had a common passion- they were audiophiles.

As my brother tells the story: "the officer and I talked at length about our audiophile interests, tubes versus the newer solid state designs, tuner types, etc. After a long discussion, the officer invited me to a hangar in the very center of the base to witness something- and I quote- "amazing".

"As we proceeded through the hangar, the officer flashed his ID and 2 heavily armed guards stepped aside, allowing us entry to a small circular room. In the center of the room was a disc-shaped object, about 14 feet in diameter and 7 feet high. I was of course dumbfounded at this sight. The officer then showed me the most amazing thing yet- the craft's interior. Instrumentation of every sort was arranged neatly around the craft's center console. Among this instrumentation, to my utter amazement was a stereo setup! I remember the gear to this day- a pair of AR suspension loudspeakers, a Wollensack 8 track deck, a Citation tube amplifier, and, yes, a beautiful tuner bearing the badge 'Kenwood L-02'!

My brother continues- "In my amazement, I asked if I could photograph ONLY the hi-fi system- knowing everything else would be highly classified. The officer agreed, providing he could take the photos himself. He did so, and we promptly concluded our incredible tour.

"To this day, I still have these photos. Years ago I posted them on a FM Tuner website, and the Kenwood L-02 tuner photo was immediately noticed. To this day no-one has seen this tuner in person but me. I have searched ebay daily for several years trying to find this magical device, which could without doubt prove to be the most powerful tuner ever made."

So there it is. Scoff though you may, the truth is out there.

Just to add a funny note, and I know you are not going to believe this, but I was born in Roswell so this is all fitting together. If I only knew where that hanger was...

I used to sell all of the Kenwood LO gear when I was in retail. I liked them very much. I wish I would have kept a few for myself!! I remember bi-amping ADS L910 speakers with L-O9s on the bottom and L-O7s on the top. I also tried that set-up on the Infinity Quantum speakers.

I think that I saw some Kenwood LO models on display in Brooks Berdan's Audio Museum.

Best,

Barry

Yet another unicorn...I did see a Sansui TU-X1 on the German Ebay site a few months back...I don't remember specifically, but I think it sold for somewhere between $1500 & $2000.