A brief history of the Klipsch audio brand

    Klipsch, founded in 1946 by Paul Klipsch, is a world-renowned manufacturer of speaker systems. The equipment of this brand has found application both in large cinema halls and home theaters. We recall how the legendary brand began. Photo Jan Hammershaug / CC BY / Speakers Klipsch Heresy III (cropped photo)




    Start


    From childhood, Paul Klipsch gravitated to engineering. At fifteen, he put together his first speaker from a postal horn and old headphones. This hobby later grew into a love of electrical engineering. The clip went to Stanford and became a master in this area.

    Around the 30s of the last century, Paul became interested in the idea of ​​an acoustic speaker that would be installed in the corner of the room. This concept was unpopular at the time. However, Klipsh decided to take a non-standard approach. He considered the angle of the room as part of the speaker system and calculated its parameters accordingly.

    In 1940, Paul assembledthe first prototype of its device with a horn loudspeaker, and in 1946 registered the trademark Klipsch & Associates. Then he began to sell speakers, which were called Klipschorn. They accurately conveyed the idea of ​​the authors of musical works when listening at home and quickly captured the market. Horn “corner” speakers have become a kind of hallmark of the company.


    Pictured: Klipsch Klipschorn

    Interestingly, the clip name was not invented by the clip himself . In the first years of his work, he called with a business proposal to one of the New York companies to talk about his speaker system. However, they said that they had already heard about his invention and called him Klipschorn.

    To date, Klipschorn is the only column in history that has been produced for over 70 years . Acoustics are still collected manually .

    Heresy Klipsha


    In 1957, when the company turned ten years old, and the staff expanded significantly (for a long time Klipsh collected columns alone), Paul introduced a new column. It was a conceptually different model that acted as a central channel.

    One of Paul's acquaintances noted that the design of the system was not like the horn speakers that the company was so famous for. He even called the new product "acoustic heresy." The head of Klipsch liked this idea so much that he called the new Klipsch Heresy column - “Heresy Klipscha”. This has its own irony, given that these speakers were often bought for installation in US churches. For many years, the speaker system was sold almost unchanged. The second model - Heresy II - was released only in 1985. The third modification was released twenty years later - exactly under the 60th anniversary of Klipsch.

    In 1959, Klipsch released the Cornwall column. It was a universal alternative to Heresy, as it could act as an angular speaker. This model was modified - the author introduced new highly sensitive tweeters and mid-range speakers to the design.

    Clipsch's next landmark development was the La Scala speaker series, named after the Milan Opera House. These systems were smaller than their predecessors and assumed greater mobility. The target audience of the product was touring artists. However, there is a known case when they were used by Winthrop Rockefeller, a candidate for governor of Arkansas, to conduct public appearances. La Scala columns began to be produced in 1963, and they are still being produced.

    Nowadays


    Paul Klipsch died at the age of 98 in 2002, but his case continues to live. Today, Klipsch has dozens of speaker systems that can work both at home and in large halls. The company equips large cinemas, restaurants and rock clubs with its speakers.

    Klipsch products are installed at the Cold Stone Creamery Café in Times Square, as well as at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan.

    At one time, the company was the first on the market to introduce a home stereo station for iPod. In 2009, Klipsch developed the Image S4 headphones - this was one of the most successful product launches in the brand’s history.

    In 2011, the company was bought by a major electronics manufacturer Audiovox (now Voxx International). But despite this, the Paul Clipsch product line is still available today. And, probably, it will continue to be produced for many more years.



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