Kenwood LS-7PRO (c. 1997)
The LS-7PRO is a 2-way bookshelf speaker from Kenwood's Avino PRO series. These were Japanese domestic market mini-component systems that the company pushed in the mid-1990s, when Kenwood was also building higher-end mini components like the K's series. The Avino line was an ambitious project for Kenwood, with receivers that used Class A amplifiers. The LS-7PRO shipped with the "Avino PRO7" system. A European equivalent, the LS-SE9, also exists.
The tweeter is the main point of interest. The LS-7PRO uses a Linaeum tweeter, a design with two cylindrical, film-wound radiating elements that produce sound from their center contact points. The well-known Linaeum A-1 used the same approach. The tweeter is mounted directly to the baffle surface. The woofer sits on ring spacers protruding 2-3 cm forward, presumably to align the acoustic centers of the two drivers. The baffle board is resin (possibly ABS), and the horn-shaped portion of the tweeter is screwed in from the reverse side of the baffle. The grille is attached with resin fasteners that have to be melted off with a soldering iron to remove.
One owner's teardown notes say the tweeter delivers "gentle yet clear" highs, not the piercing quality you might get from a dome tweeter heard head-on. The owner also praises its soundstage, low distortion, and fast response. Opinion on how well it integrates with the woofer is divided. The same owner found the bass slightly excessive in their setup (a Yamaha AX-1200 amp with a Denon DCD-1650AL CD player), but the mids sounded natural and "not as bad as claimed." They also felt the speaker was considerably better than contemporary budget-class offerings.
Documentation on this model is thin, and no official spec sheet has surfaced. What's known comes from listings and the teardown:
- 2-way configuration, bookshelf/stand-mount design
- Linaeum ("linear m" / リニアム) tweeter
- 6 Ohm nominal, 40 W power handling (per a single Russian listing)
- Part of the Avino PRO series, Japanese domestic market, c. 1997
- European equivalent: LS-SE9
No crossover frequency, driver sizes, frequency response, dimensions, or weight have been documented. The LS-7PRO shows up periodically on Yahoo Auctions Japan and in Eastern European classifieds, often sold as-is. One Russian seller noted the top plate flaking. Another split a pair into two lots due to shipping weight. The teardown owner bought a grille-less, beat-up pair cheaply at a recycle shop specifically to salvage the Linaeum tweeters for a DIATONE DS-5B project.
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