PWK Book tour trip report

[jhawk92]

All-

I am having some trouble uploading the pics from the PWK book signing event, so I wanted to at least get the trip report out before it got too late. I wont bore you with the details of my flight and subsequent drive down to Hope from Little Rock, but suffice it to say it was uneventful.

I got to Hope about 30 minutes before the signing, so I just started to mix and mingle with the crowd as it was gathering. I got to meet Phil H and Bob G from Klipsch-Indy. Trey Cannon also was there, and according to Bob and Phil, he "cleans up" pretty good; he had a suit on and looked very dapper! I finally got to meet Tony Reed as well, and we all had a good time just discussing all things Klipsch. Also in attendance from the BB were Austin Baker and John Gegg. We all swapped stories about what got us hooked on this "horn" obsession and how we cant wait for the Heritage line to open back up.

Finally, the show got started and the Mayor of Hope gave a nice speech what Mr Paul and Miss Valerie meant to the surrounding community. Miss Valerie was up next and spoke about the book and what it meant to both of them to actually have it published. As a side note, only Miss Valerie was at the signing, Mr Paul remained at home.

Both authors, Mike Klementovich and Maureen Barrett, were in attendance and Mike had some eloquent words about the Klipschs and all the hard work that went into the book. By the way, both authors have been bitten by the Klipsch bug; Mike has a pair of LaScalas and Maureen cut her teeth on Cornwalls and now has LaScalas!!

While Gov Huckabee could not attend, he did send someone from his office, a Hope native, to congratulate the Klipshs on their accomplishments. Last, but not least, were the Dean and Assistant Dean from the School of Electrical Engineering at New Mexico State University, Pauls alma mater. In case you didnt know, NMSU has named the EE school in Pauls honor for all the gifts he has given to them over the years. They also brought a video from their latest awards banquet and on it, everyone wished Paul a happy 98th Bday!

Miss Valerie closed the remarks and we all jumped in line for the books. They sold like hot cakes and for those in attendance, Miss Valerie, Roy Delgado, and the two authors autographed the books. Roy is Pauls right hand man and has worked extensively with Paul for the past 15 or so years. He has also helped Paul design the Jubilee. There were probably about 50-60 people for the speeches and many more came later in the afternoon for books.

Fortunately, Tony had it arranged for us BB members to go over to the Klipsch house and get to meet the man! Miss Valerie was already there and welcomed us into her house with great warmth. "Please, make yourselves at home," was her phrase for the evening. It was quite a thrill to wander around and see all the pictures of Paul, his model trains, patent models of the K-horn, etc. But then there were the speakers!!! A pair of Belles in Miss Valeries office. A pair of Zebrawood Fortes in the dining room, a couple K-horns from the museum, and the living room system; two Walnut K-horns with a Belle center!

We stayed for a few hours, listening to the speakers as we just chatted away with each other and members of the Klipsch family. For me, the highlight of the evening was getting to play Richard Strauss "Also sprach Zarathustra" on Mr Pauls pride and joy! I had forgotten how good the K-horns are and it felt like I was in a concert hall!

The much-anticipated plant tour was not to be, as the Indy folks had to leave that evening. But I had a great day on Saturday, as I went over to say thanks for everything and "author" Mike was there, along with Lee Booles, Miss Valeries grandson. We spent the morning just talking speakers, lots about the book, and did a "drive-by" of the new Klipsch shipping facility, the factory, and the Klipsch museum. By this time, "author" Maureen was at the Klipsch house, and Miss Valerie rounded us all up and we went out to lunch. She is quite an amazing lady and kept us all entertained with her stories about Mr Paul. After lunch, we all went back to the Klipsch home and just talked more about the book and how the authors got interested in writing it.

I left in the mid-afternoon as I had set up another audition session, this time with Tony Reed who lives up in Little Rock. We met up for dinner and had a delightful time with Tony and his wife and daughter. We then went to their house and I got to see some of Tonys horn collection. He has a pair of nearly everything Klipsch has made, all in my favorite finish, Oiled Oak. We spent several hours trying out different combinations of speakers with all sorts of CDs. It was quite an experience for me; getting to re-visit with the Chorus II; hearing Cornwall IIs for the first time, and probably the highlight; listening to four OO K-horns with two OO Belles as center channels. It certainly re-awakened my desires for a pair (or two) of Mr Pauls most famous speaker. We both did a bit of wondering what K-horns would sound like with tubes, but that will have to come some other time.

So, it was quite an incredible trip for me, and while I was a bit disappointed not to be able to see the factory on the inside, this was an event for Mr. Paul and Miss Valerie. I was extremely pleased I was able to be a part of it, and I cant wait for the next trip down to Hope. Oh, and since I know some of you are wondering, I didnt pick up any factory deals, nor were there any pawn shops or yard sales overflowing with Klipsch speakers. I think the folks there in Hope know a good thing and dont ever let it go!

Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. Hopefully I can get the pics to load soon. I didnt take to many, mainly because I was just enthralled being in the environment.

This message has been edited by jhawk92 on 04-06-2002 at 08:06 AM

[HornEd]

Thanks, Jhawk, especially thanks from those of us who had plane reservations and were forced to cancel at the last minute for personal reasons. You confirm our suspicions that we really missed a most worthy event.

More commentary and some photos can be seen on the website Miss Valerie has at http://www.mrspaulwklipsch.com/ All three hundred copies of the PWK book were snapped up at the signing. Info about the book and about ordering the book are on the website.

Jhawk, what a treat it must have been to visit the home of Tony Reed, arguably the biggest fan Mr. Paul and Miss Valerie have ever known! And from personal experience, one of the nicest Forum folks to be found. I hope that Tony and his family can enjoy the sound of tubes with Khorn/Belle combo like Mr. Paul's... it is indeed a grand experience.

Of course, the Klipsch board limits the amount of photos to six at any one time. If you would like a simplified step-by-step method I devised for Clipped and Shorn to post photos, let me know.

Another alternative is to email Justin who has a website from which your photos could be displayed on this Forum.

Thanks again for all of us who have been looking for every scrap of information about an event in PWK's lifetime that you have brought us in words... and one day we hope... photos. -HornEd

[fini]

Yes, thanks, Jhawk! Did you consider pulling Miss Valerie aside and trying to convince her to have a yard sale?

fini

[HornEd]

Now, that would get fini to make the journey to Hope! -HornEd

[Tony Reed]

There are more "unseen" speakers in the Klipsch home. There are Quartet's & Forte's in the guest rooms, as well as others.

Tony

[J M O N]

JHawk:

Thanks for the interesting recap. For those in the SW that can't make it to Hope, there is a "small" Klipsch museum setup at New Mexico State University. I was nearby several months ago and had to stop by Las Cruces to get a taste of the best Mexican food I know of, and decided to make a quick stop by the University. Unfortunately, the building was closed when I got there, so I could only look through the windows. They do have several Klipsch speakers including the plexiglass Klipschorn. They also had some VERY large vintage horns. They've got some pretty neat stuff there.

[jhawk92]

HornEd-

Happy to provide an account of the event, even if it was a bit delayed. There were several BB folks who couldn't make it, and it would have been fun to meet those of you who missed out. I'd love your easy method for posting pics. I have about 5-6 from the actual signing and I did take a few of individual speakers inside the Klipsch home. I certainly know Austin tried hard to talk Miss Valerie out of those zebrawood Fortes! I can believe all the copies were snapped up at the signing, as there was a steady stream of people for the whole afternoon. I'm glad I was there.

Yes, it was a great time visiting with Tony and his family. Since neither of us have heard the horn/tube combo, we don't know what we are missing. Hopefully some day we will, but then it could lead to the next version of upgraditis. I didn't think Mr Paul had tubes in his home setup, but since I really didn't study it much, I could be mistaken.

fini-

Now THERE is an idea!!! Why didn't I think of that. Of course, it would have been pretty hard to get a pair of OO K-horns into the overhead bin on my flight home.

Tony-

There were more speakers??? I would have loved to see those Fortes and Quartets!! Oh well, guess it gives me a reason to go back.

JMON-

Thanks for the heads-up about NMSU. We had discussed the plexiglass K-horn on Friday night and wondered where it was. Now I have a mission if I'm ever in Las Cruces. My brother was at Los Alamos for a couple summers and I visited him there; great Mexican food in Santa Fe, so I'd be willing to try more!