The Lenkinap KMD-2 is an extraordinarily rare Soviet large diaphragm tube microphone manufactured in Leningrad in 1961. This one is serial number 3 - so presumably there were two more them (and that could be it).
The KMD-2 is a early-issue version of the LOMO 19a14, one of the rarest standard-issue Soviet mics (less than two hundred 19a14s were ever made). Similarly, another mic called the KMD (without the "2") is the earlier special-issue version of the LOMO 19a9.
KMD stands for "Condenser Microphone by Dubrov", named after the electrical engineer that designed them. The two mics (KMD/19a9 and KMD-2/19a14) share very similar designs using similar capsules, nearly the same circuit, and the same output transformer.
There are two main differences between the mics other than their appearance. The first is the capsule design. While both are M7 inspired LDC's (glue on diaphragm and center terminated), the KMD (19a9) has a solid brass plug in the back of the capsule which gives it its wide cardioid pickup pattern. The KMD-2 (19a14) , on the other hand, has a second inactive but fully tensioned and sputtered "dummy" diaphragm on the back of the capsule, giving it a greater presence boost and a tighter cardioid pattern. Another difference is the tube. The KMD uses a 6J1P and the KMD-2 uses a subminiature 6S6B (also used in the LOMO 19a13 and 19a18).
The KMD-2's incredibly compact size was accomplished by using a very small tube tucked neatly behind the capsule and placing the huge toroidal output transformer into the 20B35 PSU (the same PSU used with the KMD/19a9). The mic uses a 33mm M7 style capsule which gives it a gorgeous full bodied sound with a gentle rise in the upper frequencies. It sounds as good as it looks.
