Kenwood LS-990A (c. 1984–1985)

The Kenwood LS-990A is a three-way, three-speaker bass reflex bookshelf speaker from the mid-1980s. It sold for ¥59,800 per unit. Kenwood designed it for the wide dynamic range of digital sources, which were just arriving, and packed it with proprietary technology to get there.

The most distinctive feature is the "Class A suspension" on the woofer. It's a Kenwood-specific design with two suspensions molded from engineering plastic polyamide fiber. As the voice coil moves, the two work in push-pull, one expanding while the other contracts. That cancels out opposing nonlinear distortion components and allows linear motion of the diaphragm at both small and large amplitudes. The 33 cm woofer itself has a three-layer cone, with a hard resin layer sandwiched between pulp layers reinforced with HR carbon and ribs. It is driven by a large magnet with 88,000 maxwell total flux and a four-layer voice coil.

The midrange is a 10 cm semi-dome type. Its ion-plated titanium dome (same treatment as the tweeter) connects directly to the voice coil bobbin. It has a 61,000 maxwell magnet and an aluminum die-cast frame with reinforcing ribs. The tweeter is a 2.5 cm hard dome with a titanium nitride coating applied by ion plating. The titanium is ionized and accelerated in a plasma state, then deposited on the surface. The tweeter uses a lightweight aluminum voice coil wire and a strontium ferrite magnet with 24,000 maxwell total flux.

The crossover uses separate dedicated printed circuit boards for the woofer, midrange and tweeter. They are arranged to suppress crosstalk from magnetic flux leakage and ground lines. Oxygen-free copper is used for the internal wiring and coil windings. The sides and back of the cabinet are 20mm-thick coniferous high-density particleboard. The front baffle is reinforced by bonding 18mm and 12mm particleboards together. The bass port is bent so internal sound doesn't escape directly forward, and it is kept short. Kenwood clearly considered that important.

Specs as documented: frequency response 28 Hz to 45 kHz, maximum input 190W, impedance 6Ω, output sound pressure level 92 dB/W/m, crossover frequencies 600 Hz and 5 kHz, dimensions 355 × 671 × 321 mm, weight 22 kg.

The model naming is messy. Sources reference LS-990A, LS-990AD, LS-990D and LS-990HG variants, and the relationship between them isn't clearly documented. Production dating is fuzzy too. A catalog listing points to 1984 (Showa year 59), while a Pinterest pin claims 1985. The LS-990D variant is separately dated to 1986.

Surviving information on this model is thin. Restoration videos are circulating, and one titled "Kenwood LS-990A. Часть 2" suggests a multi-part series. Russian marketplace listings indicate the speakers are still being bought, sold and shipped. One LS-990D listing notes the units arrived from Japan in fully functional condition with no prior repairs. A Yahoo Auctions listing for an LS-990A showed a bid of ¥800. No period reviews or measured performance data have surfaced in the archive's research.

• Type: 3-way, 3-speaker, bass reflex, bookshelf
• Woofer: 33 cm cone (Class A suspension, HR carbon reinforced)
• Midrange: 10 cm semi-dome (ion-plated titanium)
• Tweeter: 2.5 cm hard dome (ion-plated titanium nitride)
• Frequency response: 28 Hz – 45 kHz
• Max input: 190W (EIAJ)
• Impedance: 6Ω
• Output SPL: 92 dB/W/m
• Crossover: 600 Hz, 5 kHz
• Dimensions: 355 × 671 × 321 mm
• Weight: 22 kg
• Original price: ¥59,800 (each)

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