Marantz LS-30V (1988)
The Marantz LS-30V is a compact bookshelf speaker from 1988. It is a "setting-free" design built around a single 10cm coaxial driver. It was priced at ¥50,000 for a pair at launch. Documentation in English is essentially nonexistent. Nearly everything known comes from Japanese sources, mainly the Audio Database entry and a handful of auction listings.
The coaxial arrangement is the interesting part. Marantz put a 10cm cone woofer and a 3.2cm dome tweeter on the same axis, each with its own independent magnetic circuit, to get coherent sound image localization from a single point source. The woofer cone uses an inner edge suspension for large excursion without losing linearity. The tweeter diaphragm is PEI film with the voice coil wound directly on it to cut transmission loss. Magnetic fluid in the tweeter gap handles both low-frequency control and heat dissipation. The whole magnetic circuit is shielded with double strontium ferrite magnets. That is where the "setting-free" claim comes from: you could place these near a CRT television without worry, which was a real concern in 1988. The bass reflex port is integrated into the enclosure to suppress unwanted resonance.
The specs are modest: 6Ω impedance, 40W rated input (150W max), 89dB/W/m sensitivity, and a playback band of 50Hz to 30,000Hz. Each cabinet measures 155 × 233 × 158mm and weighs just 2.9kg. A multi-stand was included for flexible placement. A Japanese auction listing for a clean pair called the bass "impressive for a 10cm speaker."
The LS-30V is rare on the used market today. A single Yahoo! Auctions listing from early 2026, titled "希少" (rare), ended at ¥10,000 for a pair in good condition. That was the starting bid, though, and may not reflect typical market value. No crossover frequency, THD, or detailed review commentary has surfaced.
- Type: 2-way, 1-speaker, bass reflex, shielded ("setting-free")
- Drivers: 10cm coaxial — 10cm cone woofer + 3.2cm dome tweeter
- Impedance: 6Ω
- Rated / Max input: 40W / 150W
- Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m
- Playback band: 50Hz – 30,000Hz
- Dimensions: 155W × 233H × 158D mm
- Weight: 2.9kg each
- Original price: ¥50,000 per pair (1988)
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