Gosh, why didn't I find this thread sooner? Anyways, sorry to revive this old thread to say, YES, Kenwood made some of the best speakers out there, but they are few and far between. Their first known Audiophile quality speaker was the Hulking and Heavy Model 7, introduced in August 1975. I hear there was a Model 9, but no-one has ever seen a pair, and there are no pictures or words about them on the World-wide web anywhere, however, I have a pair of the Model Seven. It was from the Japanese Model Seven that Kenwood USA spawned the LS-400 Series, beginning with the LS-403, LS-405 & LS-406, then those were superceded by the "A" series with LS-403A, LS-405A, LS-407A & LS-408A, then "B" Series, LS-404B, LS-405B, LS-407B & LS-408B, and ending at the "C" series, LS-405C, LS-407C & LS-408C. The C series utilized aluminum frames for all three drivers, but sadly none of the C's could be had with real walnut veneer. The only LS's that had real walnut veneer were the LS-403, LS-405, LS-406, LS-408A, & LS-408B. All of those LS Series were much much cheaper than the Model Seven which was over $2500 per pair from 1975 to 1977 only. They all utilized the same design techniques and they were the closest thing sound-wise to the Model Seven, although the other TOTL Model that Kenwood made later, the LS-1900, while not sharing anything visually or sound-wise with the Seven, had another line spawned from it, but those were not made in USA, the LS-660/770/880/990. The LS-880 and 880G were Kenwoods Clones of the Yamaha NS-690/1000. Most of the spawned lines can be had with a limited budget nowadays, however, finding a pair that is intact and 100% working can prove extremely challenging. After 1982, the emphasis for sound/construction quality went downhill, although the LSC & LSK-Series-B utilized the same midrange and tweeter cones as the earlier LS's, they were quite the departure sound-wise and quality-wise from them. Another line that comes to mind are the LS & LSP with four numbers 5000/6000/7000/8000/9000 and some had a letter at the end of the number like K. The "thousand" series, as I call 'em were nothing more than steriod-ed versions of their earlier "KL" brothers, having a line array of multiple drivers which were made for nothing but "Loud". The term "Kabuki" comes to mind, but if you like loud, the they would be the ticket. All in All, you should find a pair that suits your ears, or if it's a specific model your after just because you hear that someone else says they sound great, keep in mind there are many parameters that can have a profound affect on the sound they produce. If it's simple sound your after, then just about anything will do, right on down the line to a LCD clock radio.
