A:Answer The 9000 has a few extra features for local dimming, better motion rate technology (8000 has Motion Rate 240, and the 9000 has Supreme Motion Rate 240) and the speaker is a bit more powerful on the 9000. The majority of the other differences are either aesthetic or superficial. I have the KS8000 which is replacing a JU7100 and I love it. I considered getting the 9000 but decided it wasnt worth the extra $600 for the differences. After reading a lot of reviews most reviewers said they cant even notice the differences as far as picture, and performance. I will say that I prefer the stand on the 9000 because on the 55" KS8000 the legs have only one position and they are about 44" apart and the stand I have is only 42" wide. So I had to get a nice piece of black wood, and set that on my stand and it worked great. On the larger versions of the 8000 there are alternate leg positions that would have fit, but not on the 55" version. Anyway I ended up writing more than I was going to. Hope it helps.
