dtel's wife

Amy how could we not like it.[] Klipsch has done such a good job. We read the reviews (raves) about the trip to Indy last year, that's what made us go to Hope. It's all about the food, fun and fellow forum members. For those of you that don't know, we were supposed to make the "informal trip" to Hope last year (it was the weekend of dtel's birthday), but we got sidetracked by some woman named "Katrina". This trip to Hope made up for our loss. Besides, someone said the night life in Indy is great![]

The 150 degrees didn't seem to slow down your "Slammin"?[]

Coytee, I didn't realize you were a "pyro". I am sure dtel shared some of his "pyro" stories with you. He's a genuine, certified, pyromaniac. We have neighbors that actually join in the pyro projects. We call dtel and his two buddies "The Three Amigos". They all own Kabotas and assist one another with their "burning projects". I will try to get a pic of them in the next few days and post it for you guys.

I am just thankful that the Thank You made it to the person this pilgrimage. Thanks again Christy for sending my praise for her work on my new speakers for me. Amy also you deserve reconition again for giving me daily updates on where my speakers were [] I think that everyone that owns Klipsch Speakers that have a person who signed off on them should write a thank you letter! Also I may be forgetting to thank the other people who made my speaker that did not sign off but none the less made my speaker, Thank You. I can't believe you suggested the thank you letter idea. I have been thinking along the lines of writing a letter and "adopt a plant employee recognition campaign". I wasn't sure how to coordinate the effort. I don't think just the person that signs the inspection stickers should receive a letter, because there are only about five people qualified for that position. Some type of general effort on our parts, where the letters could be posted in the breakroom. Or, maybe Amy could ask the office staff in Hope to solicit names to share and we could make sure everyone on the list gets a letter. Or, we(the forum members)could write individual letters to the plant employees as a whole. I am not sure how it could be done. Or, an email account could be set up at the factory for our letters to go to and Ms. Donna or a plant employee could check and distribute the letters each day. The more letters we can send the better. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Okay, so, this is the deal. The petition needs to be amended to include rotations, fixed weekends and the other recommendations. Me Loves Khorns you need to consult with your attorney wife and get the new petition posted.[]

Okay, here's the scoop on our new Cornwall III's. For those of you who don't know yet (I really think the word travelled fast) dtel was/we were the winner of a set of Cornwall III's at this year's Pilgramage in Hope. Monday we visited the factory, as instructed. Of course, Ms. Donna Garner the person we needed to speak to was at lunch. Once again, the Klipsch reputation for service and quality just shined through. Five minutes after leaving the plant we received a telephone call from Ms. Donna. Ms. Donna called to see what finish we wanted on our new speakers. Everything we heard about the new walnut veneer, made our decision very easy. All the folks at the plant had spoken about the beautiful walnut veneer and we saw it first hand. Beautiful stuff. After getting all of the "order" stuff out of the way, I told Ms. Donna how much we all appreciated the Pilgramage being held in Hope. I explained our(the forum members) fascination, addiction, mental illness toward everything Klipsch, especially the Hope factory and the quality of the speakers produced in Hope. I continued to talk about the employees of the factory and the lack of recognition those folks receive. Ms. Donna and spoke of the events surrounding Ms. Barbara Miller. Ms. Donna said Barbara was shocked. She told me a copy of a post on the forum was printed and given to Ms. Barbara. I think our Pilgramage is the talk of the factory. These folks are honored that we recognize their hard work and dedication. Okay, here's the real scoop...at that point I told Ms. Donna that dtel and I were overwhelmed that Klipsch could be so generous. I also spoke of our desire to give some credit back to the employees, so they would know their work does not go unnoticed. I told Ms. Donna that one of our fellow forum members had suggested we request each worker on the line sign the back of the speaker. Well, I was heartbroken, when she told me the backs of the speakers are painted black. I suggested a plain piece of white paper, with the appropriate signatures would be fine, we could tape it to the back. I told her we just wanted to let those folks in that factory know how much they mean to us. Ms. Donna told me, "Don't worry, I will get the signatures and do something appropriate for those speakers, this will mean a lot to the employees here at the factory. How cool is that? Is that not Klipsch's style. Talk about customer service. My step dad once made a comment, "I will treat you so many ways, you are bound to like one of them." That came to mind while I was writing this post. The Klipsch organization has treated us so well, and most of you know I am not just talking about the Cornwall III's. I do not know another company on the face of this planet that treats its fans/customers as good as Klipsch has treated all of us this past weekend. We were not aware prizes would be awarded at the Pilgramage, let alone the magnitude of the prizes. Daddy Dee, I am sure will agree, was as shocked as we were. Now for the real kicker. After telling Ms. Donna how much we appreciated the Klipsch organization and her help, she told me, "I promise you, you will have the one of the most beautiful pair of Cornwall's to ever come out of this factory. I will personally see them down the line." Ms. Donna said she would keep us updated on the progress of the speakers. We will photograph the big event minute by minute. Dtel and I are discussing a possible weekend trip to Hope to pick the "new ones" up. Everything we have read about shipping leads us to believe this may be the best option. If our speakers were damaged how could we possibly even say a thing. Klipsch has been too good to us.

You can put my name on the petition. Unfortunately, I think we may be in the minority considering where most of the forum members are located. I truly enjoyed the atmosphere in Hope. Great place, great people, great time. IMO, this was a true Pilgramage. It took us back to the beginning. However, I am sure you will agree that we will be wherever the Pilgramage is.

As most of you know dtel and I have had the opportunity to hear a lot of live bands in the last two months or so and we couldn't agree more with seti. Dr. Who, you did a great job, which required a tremendous amount of your time and energy. We are so glad you still had time to rub elbows with Jim and the others. We couldn't think of a more deserving guy. Klipsch should be proud to have someone like you come on board. You not only have the intellectual ability, you also are a wonderful person. We are so glad to have the opportunity to meet you.

Paul, It was really great to meet you and your sons. Like Michael said I am sure something good will be coming your way. Thank you for joining our family. We sure are glad you found us in time to make the Pilgramage. Maybe next year the wife and other two sons can make it. Make sure your wife hears the threads where the other wives opinions of the Pilgramage are noted. Your sons are true gentlemen, just like you. P.S. Thanks for bringing the Khorns along for the trip!

We just got home. We are still reeling from all the events of the past few days. There is so much to post, but we are exhausted from all the excitement, and I don't mean just about our new Cornwall III's. We want to thank everyone again, Trey, Klipsch employees and forum members for such a great time. We could not have asked for better people to spend time with. Trey and Klipsch outdid theirselves with this event, and my feelings regarding the folks that are a part of this forum are even more positive after this trip. I will sit down in the morning and post a detailed story of our experiences, including the new Cornwall III's. I will give you guys a hint, we visited the plant today and could not have asked for a warmer reception. I want to make sure that I mention everyone and everything when I write tomorrow. Our brains are still foggy and the reality of owning new Cornwall III's has not quite set in yet.

My funniest moment came during Picky's "extended" explanation of how Khorns work to his Mrs. Picky and her turning to me and saying, "That's some good sh*t, huh.

Ditto from me too, well said j4knee.

I couldn't have said it better.

The bands would not be my first choice for listening, however Trey and Dr. Who outdid themselves with the whole setup. It sounded great, even though it wasn't exactly my style of music.

Dee, We just wanted to congratulate you again on your win. We do not know of a person more deserving than you. Thank you for the support you have give all the forum members. You have truly been an inspiration to us. Christy and Elden

Actually Michael, dtel and I were the only two from the "dtel gang" that made it to Hope. However, I don't know that we can say the same about next year! We are in Little Rock tonight and will be back in Hope tomorrow to check on our new Cornwall III's.[H]

We are still in shock. As most of you know, we have truly enjoyed this trip. Everyone, and I do mean everyone with Klipsch has been so generous. The time we have spent in Hope with the forum members and employees of Klipsch has been so rewarding for both of us. The forum members have supported us during our families losses from Katrina, the graduation of our oldest daughter from nursing school, the marriage of our middle daughter, and the birth of two of our grandchildren. The members have answered question after question relentlessly. We can not thank you guys enough for sharing your time with us. You accepted us and we became part of the "forum family". The employees of Klipsch we had the good fortune to meet this weekend were no less than outstanding. Jim and Roy took great interest in our forum members and spent numerous hours sharing information with anyone that wanted to talk "shop". The factory employees were genuinely happy to see us and made it a point to thank us for coming. Can you imagine that? There are no words to adequately thank Trey for the time he has put into this Pilgramage. It was obvious to us that a lot of thought and time went into the planning. The Pilgramage was held without a hitch. A special thanks to everyone that worked with Trey in the background to pull this off. Stephen, Mark and the rest of the Klipsch family a big thanks goes out to all of you. If I omitted thanking anyone my apologies. Last but not least...The Cornwall III's...what can we say? We were thrilled when we received the BS buttons. We thought we had something when we were given the buttons? Then, we thought okay a t-shirt would be way cool. Man would we like a t-shirt. Instead we are being given a brand new pair of Cornwall III's!!! How great is that. It is more than we could even have hoped for. A BRAND NEW PAIR OF CORNWALL III'S. I am not aware of any company that treats its forum members as well Klipsch does. We enjoyed the trip immensely even before the Cornwall III's. In answer to your question, we will be spending a few days in Arkansas and will pick up our new Cornwall III's in a couple of days from the factory and bring them home ourselves. Do you really think we would trust our new babies to UPS or any of the other "shipping companies". It is now 2:00 a.m, but I can assure you we will be making many more posts regarding our Cornwall III's. (doesn't that sound cool, "our Cornwall III's) Thank you Klipsch for your generosity. Not just for the speakers, but for the entire Pilgramage.

I was wondering if you had ever been down this way Meagain. Listen up, I am the only female representative of this forum at The Pilgramage! Us girls are going to have to have a discussion about this issue soon! I will give my final opinion on The Pilgramage after tonight!

The factory has a huge board with the employees names and each position they have qualified to fill. Ms. Barbara is one of only five people that were certified in final inspections. If I am not mistaken she has over 20 years in at the factory. To be a final inspector means you have qualified for every position in the factory!!!!! More on this later. Jay, she was so overwhelmed. These factory workers are not accustomed to outside recognitiion. I do not think the workers realized how much we, the consumers, pay attention to detal. I think they probably thought that sticker on the back was just BS. You know, a company's way of finding out "who let the bad one out." However, IMO PWK did not BS and she worked under his command for many years. This is a very small town, very much like Picayune, MS, population 10,616 according to road sign. Therefore, it is my belief each and every worker at the Klipsch factory in Hope values their job. However, it is also my opinion that these people have no idea how much attention we, the consumers of Klipsch, pay to detail. Like, "who signed off on my speakers"....that is really far out thinking for most of the factory workers. In today's world of business it is rare to find people so dedicated to quality control. Everything about the Klipsch factory screams QUALITY. I found out today that inside every speaker made in Hope there are initials in pencil. Those initials indicate who did the finishing work on the speakers, i.e. sanding. Can you believe that? That's just friggin(to coin a phrase from Dr. Who) amazing. They used to place stickers inside the cabinet boxes to indicate the person who did the finishing work. Someone else told me at some point they were "hammered in" . I will post more on this kind of stuff later. The quality control just blows my mind. Real quick, they even have charts showing "first time correct" for finishing work and a separate chart for "first time correct" acoustics. These show monthly averages. Klipsch goal is 96%. It is rare this goal is not met or exceeded. I hope I answered most of your questions and didn't ramble too much.

Between Dr. Who and myself we were able to remember Ms. Barbara's first and last name. Our plant tour was lead by the Plant Manager and we asked to speak with Ms. Barbara. When we got to her area in the plant, he called Ms. Barbara off the production line and Dr. Who and I personally thanked her for you. Boy was she surprised. She was real appreciative of the acknowledgment. Klipsch has been very generous allowing us to tour the facility, speaking with Jim and Ray. This is a trip every forum member needs to make. I am most impressed by the attention to quality. Every effort and I do mean every effort is given to quality control. When you first enter the factory there is a huge sign that says "The next visitor may be our next customer." That says it all. Everything I saw is based on that one statement.

Jay, They are "lacewood". The tops have a piano finish. They are so pretty. I couldn't believe how nice they look. They also have a commemorative plaque for the 60th anniversary built in. Not only that there is a see through area in the back of the speaker exposing the crossovers. I saw the pics on the Klipsch site, but I can tell you these things are pleasing to the eye.

We saw a pair of the new La Scala's during our tour of the plant and I swear I heard them calling..."Michael, Michael come get me." Man, they were beautiful walnut finish. Today, we auditioned them in the listening room closet to the office. Talk about music to your ears. You need to sell a few pair and get some of these new ones. They sounded real good and if you listen closely you can hear them calling your name.

One other thing...no offense Mr. and Mrs. Picky you guys are doing a wonderful job of documenting our Pilgramage. But...in my opinion there is no camera that can adequately portray the beauty of the 60th edition Klipschorn. It is mesmerizing.

Our cruise director is THE BEST!!!! He has done a wonderful job so far and I am sure tonight will be great. He was a little "frazzled" yesterday, but is "feeling much better today".[]

Marvel, You live in my favorite part of the USA. The area you live in IMO is beautiful. The Smoky Mountains are right out your front door, how much nicer can that be. I wish you could have made it to Hope. We have met a lot of our fellow forum members and they are wonderful people.