Is this KitchenAid anything special, or just a 'high-end
Gary, in a way it is. First, these will probably become collecctable soon enough since WP killed of the KA laundry line so they could replace it with the Maytag moniker. Second, it's a "3-speed" and for KA that meant a difference. The high speed agitation was actually 120 spm instead of the 180 spm of the usual shredpools. Combine that fact with the slightly different (smaller fin) agitator, these were gentler on fabrics on regular agitation than the usual shredpools. Others will most likely chime in, I hope. The dryers, I believe I got this right from Gansky1, had extra heavy duty motors as well as very very sturdy belts and I think even the rollers.